Name: Mahall
Debut: Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards
Kirby 64 is a wonderful, beautiful game! Its art direction allows it to, in my opinion, look incredible even to this very day. That's thanks to the bright, flat colors and simple shapes! So, so very simple shapes. See this creature? This creature is ovals. And I love this collection of ovals!
When first encountered, Mahall will simply be one oval. Just a green circle on the ground. It's giving "Don't mind me!". This circle is a reference to one of the most widespread and beloved ground circles, the manhole cover! We all love manhole cover, that which protects us from falling down a big hole into Rat And Gunk World. That's a disc we can trust. But don't step on this one... this one EXPLODES when stepped upon! Why would it do that?!
This disc is in reality, the operculum of an ambush predator. Mahall, the little yellowish orange lump! It waits in its hole, emerging to attack when Kirby is near. If this thing can cause an explosion while it's lying in wait, one must shudder to imagine what it's capable of when it has a target in its sights...
It will blow a bubble! Watch out, if that pops in your eyes it might sting slightly! Someone call a pansexual and an asexual, because Mahall's attack methods are all or nothing. But I love the bubble. It's humble. It's realistic! And Mahall is so extremely simple and abstract that it brings a few creatures to mind...
A blob with a hard, protective covering is as classic as a mollusc can get! I'm not sure Mahall exactly has a SHELL, though. That green thing on its head is much more like an operculum, the flat "door" that many snails use to close off their shells, keeping moisture in and predators out! The eyes of this land snail in the genus Aperostoma are also exactly like Mahall's! That is not impressive, considering they both have the most basic black dot eyes possible, but it's still a fun similarity. Snails are also able to secrete slime bubbles to deal with small intruders! Defensive bubbles are accounted for!
Even more than a snail, Mahall brings to mind a spittlebug! The planthoppers that, as nymphs, secrete a foam of bubbles to hide in and to keep themselves moist, and wow creatures really love being concealed and moist huh? I can't judge, I close the door when I shower! Spittlebug nymphs are some of the cutest babies on the planet, their simple, round, big-eyed heads resembling Mahall's. And of course, they make bubbles! All the time, intentionally, rather than just in case of emergency, like most snails. Maybe Mahall is a baby spittlebug, wearing quite a hat!
I love when a fictional creature reminds me of real creatures so much, especially when the resemblance is clearly unintentional, and the design is so simple. Someone put a bunch of ovals together, and little did they know, someone in the future would be reminded of their dear friends Tropical Land Snail and Spittlebug. Delight can be found in the simplest of places, if you're willing to welcome it!
