Bow (object)

Yoshi standing atop a crystal with a bow on it

Bows or knots are objects appearing in Yoshi's Woolly World and Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World. They are pieces of string in a shoelace knot, usually attached to some portion of the terrain. Bows are common throughout the game, being a means for Yoshi to progress by removing terrain in the way, opening shortcuts, and finding secret items; specifically, Yoshi can lick a bow to unravel the entire portion of the terrain it is attached to. In some cases, beads will pop out from the terrain that gets removed. After fully unraveling it, Yoshi automatically swallows that portion of the terrain to create a big yarn ball. Some bows are hidden until Yoshi gets close to their position.

In Knitty-Knotty Windmill Hill, among the bows scattered throughout the course, there are two that begin flying like butterflies when licked. Shortly afterwards, they attach themselves to a surface; licking them again in this state causes Yoshi to unravel the block of yarn that surface pertains to.

Additionally, bows play a key role in Mega Baby Bowser's boss battle. The non-black giant yarn balls he throws have bows on top of them. These bows allow Yoshi to unravel the oversized yarn balls to create three big yarn balls. Since the transition prior to the fight takes away Yoshi's yarn balls, eating these bows are the only way to have yarn balls during this phase of the battle without using Mellow Mode in Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World. Some of the yarn balls land upside down, and their bows do not appear in such a state. When Mega Baby Bowser uses his jump and stomp attack, the impact jostles the yarn balls, flipping some of their orientations and therefore making certain bows accessible or inaccessible. Yoshi can flip an upside down yarn ball bow-side up if he uses a Ground Pound while using the "Power up Ground Pound!" Power Badge.

The role of bows in revealing objects and sometimes moving to locations after being found makes them reminiscent of Pull Patches from Kirby's Epic Yarn.

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Dutch	strik	bow
French	nœud	knot
German	Schleife	bow
Italian	nodo	knot
Portuguese	nó	knot
Spanish	nudo	knot

Profiles

Yoshi's Woolly World

• Electronic manual description:
  • English (United States):
    Unraveling Bows
    Flick Yoshi's tongue at a to unravel the yarn. Sometimes this can reveal a hidden item or a secret area!
  • English (United Kingdom):
    Untying Knots
    By flicking Yoshi's tongue at a , you can untie the knot. Sometimes this will reveal a hidden item or secret area!
  • Other languages:
    • Dutch:
      Strikken lostrekken
      Door Yoshi's tong uit te steken naar een kun je de strik losmaken. Soms vind je daardoor een verborgen voorwerp of een geheime ruimte.
      (Translation: Pulling bows loose
      By sticking out Yoshi's tongue onto a , you can untie the bow. Doing so, you sometimes find a hidden item or secret area.)
    • French (France):
      Défaire les nœuds
      Quand Yoshi tire la langue à proximité d'un , celui-ci se dénoue. Un objet caché ou une zone secrète peuvent ainsi être révélés !
    • German:
      Schleifen öffnen
      Triff mit Yoshis Zunge, um ein Objekt aufzutrennen. So findest du versteckte Items und Räume!
    • Italian:
      Sciogliere i nodi
      Colpendo con la lingua di Yoshi, potrai sciogliere i nodi. Così facendo, a volte potresti scoprire oggetti o aree nascoste!
    • Portuguese (Portugal):
      Desatar Nós
      Desate um nó apontando com a língua do Yoshi para . Ao fazê-lo, poderá descobrir um item escondido ou uma área secreta.
    • Spanish (Spain):
      Desatar nudos
      Si apuntas con la lengua de Yoshi a , lo desatarás. Al hacerlo puede que descubras un objeto o zona oculta.

Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World

Most versions of the electronic manual of Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World reuse the descriptions from their Wii U counterparts, while adding a new line about big yarn balls. In such cases, only the additional line is shown below. The French and Italian versions feature slightly rewritten descriptions; hence, they are reproduced here in full.

• Electronic manual description:
  • English (United Kingdom):
    [...] When you unravel a bow, you will get a big yarn ball.
  • Other languages:
    • Dutch:
      [...] Als je een strik lostrekt, krijg je een grote bol wol.
      (Translation: [...] If you pull a bow loose, you get a big yarn ball.)
    • French:
      Défaire les nœuds
      Quand Yoshi tire la langue en direction d'un nœud (), celui-ci se dénoue. Une zone secrète ou un objet caché peuvent ainsi être révélés !
      ♦Quand Yoshi défait un nœud, il obtient une grosse pelote de laine.
    • German:
      [...] Wenn du eine Schleife öffnest, erhältst du ein großes Wollknäuel.
    • Italian:
      Sciogliere i nodi
      Colpendo con la lingua di Yoshi, potra sciogliere i nodi. Così facendo, a volte scoprirai oggetti o aree nascoste!
      ♦Sciogliendo un fiocco, otterrai un gomitolo di lana grande.
    • Spanish (Spain):
      [...] Al desatar un lazo, obtendrás un ovillo de lana grande.