Knuckle Joe

Knuckle Joe has only appeared in two Kirby games, but he also appears in the television series Kirby: Right Back at Ya!.

Knuckle Joes are one of the most humanoid enemies in the Kirby series, with a seperate head, torso, and skinny limbs with big feet and hands. They have pointed, elf-like ears, tiny oval-shaped eyes, rosy cheeks and no visible mouth. Their spiky hair is split in two sections by a sort of bandanna that wraps around their heads.

They come in two color variations. Both have tan skin, but the clothing and hair color is different, Enemy versions have lighter purple hair and wear red clothes and shoes, while Helper versions have blond hair and wear primarily blue

Kirby Super Star
Knuckle Joes are an uncommon enemy in this game. They attack with fast martial-arts moves, but aren't any more of a threat than any other enemy type. As a Helper, Knuckle Joe can use all of the same techniques as Fighter Kirby, except the Tomoe Throw.

Kirby's KiraKira Kids
A single Knuckle Joe fights Kirby over a star piece in this game. He first beats up Kirby, Rick, Coo, and Kine before the match begins. If defeated, he's seen covered in bandages, carted off by a Waddle Dee.

In the Anime
Knuckle Joe is often the source for obtaining Fighter in the anime, as most Fighter Kirby ability appearances are in episodes featuring him.

Joe's first appearance saw him looking for the Star Warrior who killed his father. He originally appeared as a ghost-like form, but turned into a Joe with a purple (enemy) coloration. King Dedede convinced him that Kirby had done the deed and he challenged Kirby to a duel. Kirby didn't fight and was promptly turned into a punching bag. When Joe went for the finishing blow, Meta Knight intervened and told him the truth: Meta knight challenged and killed his father when he was captured by Nightmare and turned into a demon beast. He wasn't completly evil - the love of his son, Joe himself, stopped him from being completely evil. All Joe wanted was revenge, however, and attacked Kirby again. Kirby inhaled his attack and turned into Fighter Kirby. Fighter Kirby used the same attacks he did. Eventually, Joe got so angry, he turned into a Monster - a Spiked ball similar to Gordo. Kirby changed into Needle Kirby after he swallowed another one of Joe's attacks and defeated him.

In his second appearance he looks like the Kirby Super Star Helper. Here he is a Monster Manager for Nightmare Enterprises. He sent out an innumerable amount of small monsters to Dream Land. Kirby inhaled them all, which exhausted him. Joe released Masher onto Dream Land to deliver the final blow to an already exhausted Kirby. Eventually Kirby and Knuckle Joe team up and beat it. It turns out that Joe is now a monster hunter, and that he was after Masher for a while.

In Joes third appearance he fights against a powered-up version of Masher, Masher 2.0.

Joes fourth appearance is in the last few episodes, helping on the attack against eNeME.

In anime Joe has a tendency to wipe his "nose", Kirby often mimics this, both normally and in Fighter form, despite the fact that neither character actually has a nose.

In Super Smash Brothers Brawl


Knuckle Joe also appears in Super Smash Bros. Brawl as an assist trophy, in this role he attacks opponents, by either using a Vulcan Jab, followed be a Smash punch or a Rising Beak. The last two attacks are known to instantly KO enemies who happen to be in his way.

the brawl version is blond, with a blue suit coloration, a refence to the helper version.

Knuckle Joe also has a Regular Trophy as well.