Glunk is an amphibious enemy who resembles a sea anemone. It is usually depicted with a green body, red tentacles on top of its head (somewhat resembling hair), and a face consisting of two big, round eyes with black pupils. Glunk is extremely common throughout the Kirby series, having appeared in every main-series game, and several spin-off titles. It does not yield any Copy Abilities in any of its appearances.
Glunk usually resides in or around water. It can attack by blowing bubble-like projectiles out of the top of its head, in whichever direction it may be facing. Glunk is incapable of moving on its own, instead staying attached to a floor, wall, or ceiling. If Glunk is hit, or if the surface it is on is disrupted, it may be dislodged, where it will fall down to the floor and resume its behavior. In many games, Glunk sinks very slowly in water while falling.
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Glunk made its first appearance in Kirby's Dream Land, and can be encountered in Castle Lololo, as well as the similarly themed area in Mt. Dedede. It is one of the few enemies which does not have an alternate counterpart that replaces it in the Extra Game. Unlike in future games, Glunk's projectiles slowly travel sideways from the top of its head. Glunks on the ceiling will detach themselves and drop to the floor voluntarily, a behavior not seen in later games. Glunk is worth 1000 points when defeated.
Kirby's Adventure / Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land[edit]
👁 Image Kirby aims a laser to clear out a Glunk in Kirby's Adventure.
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Glunk appears again in Kirby's Adventure and its remake Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land, keeping its basic look, though with its attack changed to shooting upward in quick succession, which would become the standard for future games. It is worth 800 points when defeated. Unlike in most other games, its projectiles can be inhaled.
Glunk can be found in the following levels and stages:
Glunk locations in Kirby's Adventure and Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land
👁 Image Kirby swimming past many Glunks in Kirby's Dream Land 2.
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Glunk appears again in Kirby's Dream Land 2, resembling its appearance in Kirby's Adventure, though this time only yielding 400 points on defeat.
Glunk can be found in the following levels and stages:
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Glunk appears in Kirby Super Star and its remake Kirby Super Star Ultra, serving the same role as usual, and is worth 300 points on defeat. Glunk's sprite in Kirby Super Star set the standard for its appearance for the rest of the series.
Glunk can be found in the following places in Kirby Super Star and Kirby Super Star Ultra:
Glunk locations in Kirby Super Star and Kirby Super Star Ultra
👁 Image Kirby running toward a Glunk in the creek in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards.
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Glunk appears in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, making its first appearance in 3D. Kirby can hold a Glunk over his head after he's inhaled it, allowing him to attack enemies above using Glunk's shots.
In Kirby: Squeak Squad, Glunk can be possessed by Ghost Kirby. When possessed, Glunk can be made to swim through water and move about on land very slowly, and can be made to fire its projectiles, though only upward. Interestingly, when possessed, Glunk is unable to pass through the bottom of a suspended area of water, but it can pass through the sides.
In Kirby & The Amazing Mirror, Glunk can be found in the following rooms:
👁 Image Glunk appears in Kirby: Canvas Curse, largely unchanged from its usual behavior. Notably, it falls much slower than other enemies when not attached to a surface, even when on land.
In Kirby: Canvas Curse, Glunk appears in the following locations:
Glunk appears in Kirby's Return to Dream Land, making its first 3D appearance since Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards. It gains a little more durability than it had in previous titles, allowing it to potentially survive an attack, whereupon it will detach from its previous position and drift downward until finding a new floor to rest upon. It also appears in the remake, Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe, with its most recent design.
In Kirby's Return to Dream Land and Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe, Glunk can be found in the following levels and stages:
Glunk locations in Kirby's Return to Dream Land and Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe
Glunk appears in Kirby: Triple Deluxe and Kirby: Planet Robobot, serving the same purpose as it did in Kirby's Return to Dream Land, though with a somewhat updated look.
In Kirby: Triple Deluxe, Glunk also appears as a randomly-obtained keychain, using its sprite from Kirby Super Star Ultra.
In Kirby: Triple Deluxe Glunk can be found in the following levels and stages:
Glunk appears in Kirby's Blowout Blast as a stationary enemy that can be defeated for 100 base points. Due to the 3D nature of this game, Glunk does not pose much of a threat to Kirby, as it cannot hit him unless he is directly overhead, which is not a common occurrence.
Glunk makes another appearance as an enemy in Kirby and the Forgotten Land and its Nintendo Switch 2 Edition. In these games, it fires a spread of three shots in different directions, instead of a single stream straight up. When latched to a wall, Glunk shoots these out in the same direction, but at different arcs. When over water, Glunk sits atop a plank of wood to keep it afloat, as it will sink otherwise. In Star-Crossed World, a more powerful variant of Glunk called Crystal Glunk appears alongside its regular counterpart.
Glunk also appears as one of the collectible figures, being found in Vol. 2. Its figure lacks a description.
In Kirby and the Forgotten Land and Star-Crossed World, Glunk can be found in the following stages:
Despite appearing in every main-series game and several spin-offs, Glunk has never been represented in any collection listing except as a Keychain and figure. As neither of these provide descriptions, there is no official flavor text to describe this enemy.
Main Mode credits picture from Kirby's Return to Dream Land, featuring Kirby and co. swimming through an underwater tunnel passage with some Glunks in the way
Main Mode credits picture from Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe, featuring Kirby and co. swimming through an underwater tunnel passage with some Glunks in the way
