8 Famous Video Game Characters Created By Accident

8. Kirby

We all know Kirby as the ravenous little pink ball who can float by inflating his round body and copy the abilities of creatures his mouth vacuums up. An early concept of the character was similar to the aforementioned one we know nowadays, but, as it turns out, it was another of Nintendo's game series that finalised the creation of their rosy-cheeked icon.

When Donkey Kong was released in 1981, Nintendo were sued by Universal Studios due to claims that the name was basically a copy of King Kong. A truly stupid thing to go to court over, since it's obvious the former is just an homage to the latter - and the judge must have thought so too, as Nintendo won the case and got to keep the game's name as it was.

Reportedly, the lawyer who helped ensure Nintendo's victory in the court was named John Kirby, and so the character the company were working on at the time - a familiar spherical being named 'Popopo' - was renamed Kirby in his honour.

Can you imagine how things would've turned out if not for this fortunate coincidence? Somehow, 'Popopo Air Ride' just doesn't have the same ring to it.