Tac

Tac, is a common enemy in the Kirby series, debuting in Kirby Super Star.

In its series[]

Tac (written as T.A.C. and TAC in Kirby Super Star) is a small, round yellow creature who wears black thief's clothing. The enemy sports sandals, as well as two catlike ears with blue interiors. Tac carries a green bag which features cloudlike white swirl patterns. The bag's design is consistent with traditional depictions of thieves in Japanese media.

In Kirby Super Star/Kirby Super Star Ultra, he will run back and forth, occasionally jumping, and will attempt to steal Kirby's Copy Ability (or kidnap an allied Helper) by firing his hand forwards, before he attempts to flee from the scene with the stolen Copy Ability or Helper, which can only be retrieved by defeating him. He is immune to Inhale, so Kirby must beat him via a physical attack.

Tac is very fast, but it struggles with uneven terrain.

If Tac is not caught in time, he will despawn, permanently removing whatever he stole. If his escape route is blocked off, Tac may fly offscreen like a rocket to escape. He may even jump into a bottomless pit (and intentionally Self-Destruct).

Tacs are also seen in the intro of the sub-game of Super star, Spring Breeze where they are one of King Dedede's minions who helped him steal all the food in Dream Land.

If Kirby inhales Tac, he gets the Copy ability, which give him a visor to scan foes and obtain their abilities. This ability is often considered one of the worst abilities in the series, due to it doing the same thing as Inhale, but has a niche use at copying non inhalable enemies, as well as the Milky Way Wishes sub game in Super Star as Kirby can only obtain limited use abilities from inhale.

On the other hand, Tac is considered one of the best helpers in the game. As opposed to Copy Kirby's beam, Tac swiftly thrusts his hand forward, much like he does as an enemy, to steal the enemy's ability, and this damages the opponent just as if it was a punch. When guarding, Tac camouflages his body to blend in with the background and becomes invincible. He can also perform Steal underwater. Tac is also highly versatile, more so than Kirby or any other Helper, as he can freely take on the form of any other Helper when he copies the corresponding ability, which fully heals him in the process. When the Tac Helper takes such a form, his icon is marked by a "?" symbol, and he can discard the new Copy Ability and revert to regular Tac at any time.

Tac appears as part of a random event in the City Trial mode of Kirby Air Ride, which is reused for his role in Smash Tour. Here, he appears in a number of set locations (usually underground) and runs about at random. When he appears, the players are tasked to find him and smack into him with their vehicles to cause him to drop items he'd 'stolen'. Once enough time passes, or enough items are dropped, Tac takes off using some sort of jet-pack, sometimes trailing more items as he does so.

In Super Smash Bros. for 3DS and Wii U[]

Tac appears as a common enemy for Smash Run in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS. Unlike his original ability to steal character's ability, he can steal the player's collected power-ups, but one again, the power-ups can only be recovered by defeating the enemy.

Tac also appears in Smash Tour. Three Tacs carrying powerups roam around the board, picking up any stat bonuses along the way, and players who bump into them will defeat them thus gaining their loot.

Trophy Description (3DS)[]

This zippy character appears in the Kirby series. In Smash Bros., he'll appear in Smash Run to try to steal your stat boosts from you. How much he steals depends on how much you've improved your stats. If you can catch him, you can get back whatever he stole. Don't give up!(NA) This speedy little guy appears in the Kirby series. In this game, he'll speed up to you, steal your stat boosts, then flee. How much he'll steal depends on your stats. He's hard to catch, but if you take him out, you can get your stat boosts back, so you'd better chase after him!(EU)

Trophy Description (Wii U)[]

Tac is an unlockable trophy in that can be unlocked by collecting all the CDs in the game. This speedy little guy is from the Kirby series. In those games, he steals the ability Kirby's in the middle of using and bolts. If you want it back, you have to chase him down and take it. In Smash Tour, Tacs appear randomly on the board, and you'll be rewarded with multiple stat boosts if you're quick enough to catch one!

In Super Smash Bros Ultimate[]

Tac appears as a Advanced Spirit, using its Kirby Super Star Ultra artwork. There are 3 ways to get it:

•Battle via World of Light (It is found on the Sacred Land sub-area, in the Gerudo Desert section, a nod to the tribe being initially portrayed as thieves.)

•Battle via Spirit Board

•Purchase from the Vault Shop for 1000 Gold

Spirit Battle[]

The player must defeat a team of Villagers (in their purple alternate costumes to reflect his outfit, and the team referencing their frequency to spawn in groups)on The Great Cave Offensive. The Battle is on a 1:30 timer, and the Villagers have increased move speed to reflect his speed and how Kirby needs to catch him quickly to retrieve a stolen ability. The Villagers also have Impact Run to reflect his stealing abilities(also reflected via the spirit's item gravitation ability and Grab type).

Etymology[]

Tac's name is the word cat spelled backwards. This references his physical cat like appearance, his stealing actions being akin to a "cat burglar," and his function as the enemy and Helper for Copy as a "copy cat." His name in Kirby Super Star, "T.A.C.," is also cat backwards, but is written as a pseudo acronym, akin to R.O.B..

Trivia[]

• Tac is the only Kirby series trophy to exist in both versions of Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U to have different trophy descriptions.

Kirby universe
Characters	Kirby (64  · Melee  · Brawl  · 3DS/Wii U  · Ultimate) Meta Knight (Brawl  · 3DS/Wii U  · Ultimate) King Dedede (Brawl  · 3DS/Wii U  · Ultimate)
Side Characters	Boss	Marx
	Assist Trophies	Knuckle Joe  · Nightmare  · Chef Kawasaki
	Mii Fighter Costumes	Meta Knight  · Marx
	Background characters	King Dedede
	Stage Hazards	Whispy Woods
	Enemies	Bonkers  · Bronto Burt  · Gordo  · Parasol Waddle Dee  · Plasma Wisp  · Shotzo  · Tac  · Waddle Dee  · Waddle Doo
Stages	Dream Land  · Fountain of Dreams  · Green Greens  · Halberd  · Dream Land GB  · The Great Cave Offensive
Items	Bomber  · Dragoon  · Maxim Tomato  · Parasol  · Star Rod  · Superspicy Curry  · Warp Star
Music	List	List of Music (Kirby series)
	Song	"Gourmet Race"
Collectibles	Trophies	Melee Trophies  · Brawl Trophies  · 3DS Trophies  · Wii U Trophies
	Stickers	List of Stickers (Kirby series)
	Spirits	List of spirits (Kirby series)
	Masterpieces	Kirby's Dream Land  · Kirby's Adventure  · Kirby Super Star