Name: Sulkworm
Debut: Kirby’s Epic Yarn
Have you ever seen a worm sulking? I wouldn’t know! I’m not emotionally intelligent enough to ascertain the mood of a worm, but perhaps I have! And you have as well! We’ll just never know! Maybe they’re sulking all the time!
I don’t know where I’m going with this joke! This is Sulkworm! An adorably plump caterpillar! Their name is a funny pun between Silkworm and Sulk! They actually look quite jolly most of the time! So this name was clearly just the first pun they came up with, but I’m ok with that.
Look at that cute little smile! So content!
Sulkworm is a rare creature, only 3 of them are found in the whole game!, they’re also one of the biggest regular enemies! And they like spitting silk at you! Kirby’s Epic Yarn being a game all about fabric having a Silkworm that uses Silk as projectiles is just way too perfect!
They are also very fat, this is so important I think! You know this is a very well-fed caterpillar! And I’m very happy for them! They have a squiggly mouth, you know they munch leaves with that! This funny mouth also gets wonderfully animated as they’re preparing their silk attack! Look!
When I first saw them I thought they were a Sea Cucumber! They had the proportions! And I interpreted the fact they spit silk as a reference to Sea Cukes shooting out their insides as a defense mechanism! Which are also white! But no, they’re definitely a caterpillar, they have Osmeterium on top of their heads! The retractable orange horn things some caterpillars have! This confirms them as caterpillars! And also as Butterflies! So they’re definitely not actually silkworms, which are moths! But this is a fictional cartoon creature silly! It can be anything! I like to think they don’t even pupate into a butterfly, Sulkworms are just like this their whole life :)
Sadly the level design does NOT treat Sulkworm with the respect they deserve, the first time you encounter them they are blocking a door, and you’re supposed to defeat them to proceed, fortunately! You can bait them into trying to crush you, then get on top of them when they fall down, and then after they get up, with the help of the 2-Player mode, you can get across the section the blocked door leads to! Sparing their wonderfully plump life!
Also I adore their animation for their crush attack, they put their whole body into it!!
Next time you see them is in Dedede’s Castle, where you can find a room with 2 of them, what are you supposed to do in this lovely room? Horrible… cruel things! If you want to get all the collectibles, you’ll have to defeat both Sulkworms, after which a portrait with their face will be unlocked, revealing the collectible. I know! Atrocious! But the silver lining is that we got a lovely Sulkworm portrait! Look! Lovingly stitched by an unknown entity! Maybe the Waddle Dees made it!
And if you come back to this room while replaying this level, you can just come in and take a peaceful visit! If you’re not here for the collectibles, you get to realize this game has an entire room dedicated to Sulkworm, and now you can spend some quality time in the Sulkworm Room! Just be careful with all the silk!
Come on in! Please leave your shoes at the door!
