History Characters / KirbyMetaKnight

* Deuteragonist: Becomes this in ''Planet Robobot,'' not only having a major role in the Story Mode, but also getting his own WhatIf side mode where he fends off Haltmann's forces while Kirby takes a nap.

** In ''VideoGame/KirbysAdventure'' he works under King Dedede. The anime runs with this interpretation, but besides that and ''VideoGame/KirbysAvalanche'' (which is dubiously canon), him being a subordinate of King Dedede is never brought up again, and when they work together it's more as equals. Their history together is at least acknowledged in ''VideoGame/KirbyFighters2'', where they're referred to collectively as "The King and His Knight".

* CapeWings: Most often his cape shapeshifts into his wings, although in ''Kirby's Return to Dream Land'' he takes off his cape to reveal his wings.

* TheDragon: To King Dedede in ''Kirby's Adventure'': after a cameo in the first level, he sends his Meta-Knights in the four following ones five levels before being the boss of the penultimate level.

* TheDragon: To King Dedede in ''Kirby's Adventure'', acting as the boss of the penultimate level.

* BlueIsHeroic: Downplayed for his debut but eventually played straight in later games. He's a darkened shade of blue who's morality, philosophy, standards, and overall personality is far more drastically different than Kirby's such as wanting to forcefully change the lifestyle of Dream Land in ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar''. Fortunately for him, he's grown past that concept ever since Kirby defeated him in battle and started to become one of the most heroic characters who is a powerful and useful ally to Kirby whenever the situation calls for it.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Despite that Meta Knight is cold and stubborn to Kirby, He does care about him, and he always helps him when necessary.

** His reason for joining the tournament in ''VideoGame/KirbyBattleRoyale''is to have a battle against one of these. He finds the Kirby clones rather pathetic and trusts that only the original Kirby can give him the battle he desires (which he does).

* PurpleIsPowerful: When he TurnsRed in ''Star Allies'', his eyes turn people and a malevolent purple aura surrounds him.

* RedEyesTakeWarning: His eyes turn red when he wears the [[spoiler:Mask of Dark Bonds]] in ''Fighters 2.''

* PurpleIsPowerful: When he TurnsRed in ''Star Allies'', he gets a malevolent purple aura surrounding him and his eyes turn purple.

!!Tropes that apply to Meta Knight:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Main Continuity]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder:''Right Back at Ya!'']]

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/meta_knight_anime.png]]
->Voiced by: Creator/EricStuart (EN), Creator/AtsushiKisaichi (JP)

-> '''"I am a loyal servant of the king. Why would I help Kirby?"'''\\

A mysterious knight who claims to serve Dedede, but his true allegiances seem to fall elsewhere. He takes the role of Kirby's mentor, training him to fight against the monsters and to eventually defeat Nightmare.

----
!Tropes associated with Meta Knight
* TwentyFourHourArmor: He's never seen without his mask or armour, even while sleeping or unconscious. Also, unlike the games, he's never seen without his mask off either, presumably because this would have led to a lot of questions about his similarity to Kirby.
* AccentAdaptation: He gets a Spanish accent in the English dub. Eric Stuart apparently chose the accent as a nod to ''Franchise/{{Zorro}}''.
* TheAce: Kit Cosmos called him the "Pride of the Star Warriors" and given that he's one of the few survivors of the army, he's got the skill to back up his reputation.
* AcrophobicBird: Subverted and justified--he doesn't have the CapeWings that are in the games, putting him at a disadvantage in many of the battles he fights. He did in the pilot episode, however.
* AdaptationExpansion: In the games he's a mysterious figure with an ambiguous morality. The anime clears that up, expands on that, and elaborates it, making him an EnigmaticMinion for Dedede, a StealthMentor to Kirby, and the HeroOfAnotherStory in his own recollections.
* AdaptationalNiceGuy: Meta Knight, while usually portrayed as a HeroAntagonist in the games, fights Kirby in several instances and sometimes enters WellIntentionedExtremist territory; with spin-offs even showing him being willing to go to extreme lengths such as employing dark artifacts of power just to beat Kirby such as in ''Fighters 2''. In the anime, though he seemingly works for King Dedede, he actually is one of Kirby's allies who often disobeys the King to do the right thing; and his more arrogant and aggressive personality traits are downplayed in favor of his StealthMentor and protective tendencies which are less pronounced in the games.
* AdaptationalWimp: Meta Knight isn't as powerful as he is in the game, he lacks most of his abilities, including the aforementioned CapeWings and only seems to have skilled swordsmanship as his means of offense. For most of the series, he lets Kirby do the work, so he can get stronger, he does try to interfere when the GiantMook Masher is trying to kill Kirby, but MK is just backhanded, and lets Kirby finish him. He also loses against Wolfwrath, and Sirica (after she almost broke his arm). Possibly {{justified|Trope}}. In the 4th episode, he elaborated on Nightmare, the corporation and the war between him and the Star Warriors. Meta Knight was the last one, describing being 'alone, injured, but alive'. We also don't know how old he is, but considering Kirby was supposed to start duty at 200 years age, perhaps Meta Knight is simply reaching [[DentedIron his limits from all his years at war.]]
* BadassCape: He has it wrapped around him most of the time, probably to cultivate the mysterious image, but it looks cool and is very cool when unfurled as well.
* BeatTheCurseOutOfHim:
** He does this to Escargoon using methods such as a mechanized fist and rapid spinning in the episode where he gets possessed by a monster that makes him forgotten by everyone, insisting that the methods would get the monster out. [[spoiler:It works.]]
** A darker example, in his flashback from episode 19: [[spoiler:He {{Mercy Kill}}ed his best friend after he was [[DemonicPossession posessed by Nightmare.]] And this was the ''only'' person in the entire series, game ''or'' anime, that was ever stated to be Meta Knight's friend.]]
* BigBrotherMentor: Once he stops being a {{Jerkass}} to Kirby.
* BigDamnHeroes:
** Episode 18 (episode 16 in the dub) proves that everyone would be dead without him. He follows Tuff and his friends into a jungle, saving them a grand total of three times without revealing his presence every single time their lives are endangered. At the end, he nearly gets killed trying to save Tuff from a [[GiantEnemyCrab giant Venus Flytrap-like plant by forcing its jaws open with his bare hands]], gets bitten and nearly chewed to a pulp, and later [[KillItWithFire burns the plant down]]. No one thanks him for this.
** There's another moment of this in episode 26, where he jumps in front of Kirby and Tuff to challenge Wolfwrath, and later in the flashback, where he saves Sword and Blade by ''wrestling Wolfwrath off a cliff.''
** Any time Meta Knight randomly shows up to throw Kirby something that he can copy to save the day.
* BigGood: He doesn't always make it obvious, but he's the closest this series has to one.
* BondOneLiner: Gets one when he stops Escargoon, ([[ItMakesSenseInContext who is pretending to be a robot to trick Dedede]]), from attacking Kirby.
-->'''Escargoon''': I'll get you this time, Kirby!
-->'''Meta Knight''': No, you won't! (Slide tackles Escargoon, causing him to crash into a tree)
* ChekhovsGun: The WallOfWeapons in his room, which belong to Sword and Blade, his assistants.
* CombatCommentator: He comments on most of Kirby's transformations.
* CombatPragmatist: More so in the anime than in the games. In this continuity, he also places [[HonorBeforeReason reason in higher priority than honor]].
* TheComicallySerious: Meta Knight maintains a serious demeanor, but it doesn't stop him from having funny dialogue.
* CrazyPrepared: Why else would Meta Knight have a whip to [[ItMakesSenseInContext snag the bathtub that Kirby, Tiff and Tuff were in from sliding down a rubbish heap when looking out for aliens?]]
** Ever since his arrival in Dream Land, alongside Sword and Blade, Meta Knight has [[spoiler:been secretly constructing the Halberd in order to take the fight to Nightmare, long before Kirby was on the scene.]]
* DarkAndTroubledPast: Meta Knight was one of many Star Warriors who fought in a war against Nightmare. However, they ended up losing in the long run, with most of the Star Warriors being killed. That's not all either. He had to witness one of said comrades, Garlude, giving her life against Kirisakin so he could take the legendary sword Galaxia, with Meta Knight unable to save her. He later had to kill his best and possibly only friend (Knuckle Joe's Father) when said friend was corrupted into a monster after being captured by Nightmare's forces, and when his craft crashed fleeing from Nightmare, he ended up in the employ of [[{{Jerkass}} King Dedede]]. He copes with it fine though and soldiers on so Kirby can do what he and his comrades failed at, defeating Nightmare.
* DragonWithAnAgenda: He is technically King Dedede's closest servant besides Escargoon, but barely ever does anything for him and even when he does, he is quick to switch to helping Kirby and co. stop him. This even gets pointed out by Escargoon in the Japanese version with the following line from episode 60:
--> Escargoon: "At least do your job once in a while!"
* DramaticHighPerching: A favorite pose of his is to appear in high places overseeing the events going down and only coming down to interfere and help Kirby in a pinch.
* DwindlingParty: Discussed in episode 4. [[spoiler:In the initial conflict with Nightmare, the endless hordes of Demon Beasts killed everyone that tried to resist his conquest of the universe, the Star Warriors included, [[LastOfHisKind leaving only Meta Knight alive – or so he thinks.]]]]
* DynamicEntry: Has a habit of appearing out of nowhere on high places to announce something relevant to the plot.
* EldritchAbomination: There are some slight implications that he might actually be the Demon Beast that Nightmare created but failed to make obedient and rose up to face him, given that said monster is depicted in Kabu's tale as wielding a sword, in addition to Meta Knight's own otherwordly abilities occasionally seen.
* ExpressiveMask: In the pilot when Kirby spits a Gordo at him, Meta Knight's mask is turned upside down for a second, giving him a desperate expression. This is something that never happens again in the anime, nor in another game.
* TheFaceless: Unlike in the games, Meta Knight's face is never seen.
* FamedInStory: People like him so much that in the episode with the collectible figures, after someone finds a Meta Knight figurine the whole town goes nuts trying to find another one. Including King Dedede, who grabs every single candy off the shelf in hopes of finding one. Which is pretty stupid, considering that the real Meta Knight was there the whole time.
** While Dedede hates when the knight disobeys him to stop his schemes, even he can't resist the temptation to have a figurine of Meta Knight at any cost due to how popular he is.
** It gets worse when Meta Knight himself, when told about it, ''laughs'' at the fact that not only is there a toy figure of himself for sale in chocolate eggs, but it is the most sought-after figurine of the bunch to boot.
*** In the dub, at least, he enjoys his fame, responding to it with a laugh and a "Yes, I like this."
* GadgeteerGenius: Meta Knight is shown to be very knowledgeable about engineering in general. He fixes up Kirby's broken Starship and also modifies it for use in a grand prix, as future preparation for Kirby's piloting skills. He is also revealed to have had a Starship of his own back in his days of fighting against Nightmare. Furthermore, he, along with Sword and Blade [[spoiler:have been secretly constructing [[{{Faceship}} the Battleship Halberd]], which is capable of travelling light years via wormholes, ever since their arrival in Dream Land, beneath Castle Dedede.]]
* GiveMeASword: Throws Kirby a sword before their duel in episode 3, akin to the way he does in the games.
* GreatOffscreenWar: Fought in the Star Warrior army against the forces of Nightmare during their glory days which is only partially depicted in flashbacks, he saw most of his comrades die in the battle and believed for a long time that he was the only survivor. [[spoiler:Luckily for him, turns out there are a few other scant Star Warriors left and they resurface eventually]].
* HeroOfAnotherStory: A ''very'' [[DarkerAndEdgier different story]] where he was a part of the Star Warrior Army (and implicitly the best warrior of them all) and fought for years against Nightmare's forces until he was the only member left [[spoiler:or at least he thought he was]] before fleeing to Popstar. The most we get to hear about it is through miscellaneous flashbacks.
* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: Yes, Meta Knight was the victim of this trope in episode 14... Or at least he pretended to be one... You'll never know...
-->'''Tiff''': I just know King Dedede is plotting something! Those pillows sound spooky to me!
-->'''Meta Knight''': You may be right, Tiff. But just because Dedede has tried to trick us in the past, does not mean he is trying to trick us now. Perhaps he is turning over a new leaf. Why don't we try these pillows and see?
* InfinityPlusOneSword: He wields one [[NamedWeapons named Galaxia]], which was ForgedByTheGods. Somehow, as long as it's in his possession, Nightmare cannot take over the entire universe.
* KnightKnaveAndSquire: He's the knight, while both Sword and Blade are his knaves.
* LaResistance: [[spoiler:The SoleSurvivor of one, or so he thinks.]]
* {{Leitmotif}}: In the Japanese and English versions, he's often accompanied by a Spanish guitar-like riff, reminscent of Zorro. Possibly the reason 4Kids decided to give him a Spanish accent.
* LivingMoodRing: His eyes change color to reflect his mood, being the only indicator given his mask, though some are seen more often than others:
** Green indicates him being in thought or problem-solving, such as in ''Escargoon Squad.''
** A darker grass-like green is used when he is very serious, such as in ''A Blockbuster Battle.''
** Blue implies pride or joy, given we see them primarily upon reflecting how much Kirby has grown during the one year anniversary of his arrival to Dream Land.
** His Yellow eyes becomes brighter whenever he's determined.
** Dark Red implies anger, hostility or fear. First seen when Tuff took him to a mysterious haunted house and he failed to slash the door with Galaxia. They glow when he realizes that the dark force at hand is Nightmare in ''Scare Tactics Pt. II''.
** Pink implies he's amused, given that we first see it when he learns he has a mini-figurine of himself and a very rare sought-out one that even King Dedede is desperate to get as well. He even voices his amused approval of it before chuckling good-naturedly in ''Snack Attack Pt I.''
** Orange appears to be fear or surprise, as seen in his surprise of seeing Kirby in Episode 1.
** Silver/White is unknown, but it appears to further seriousness in a subtle difference from the darker green.
** When he's sleeping or unconscious, they're a dull, dark yellow.
* MasterSwordsman: Of course, it's Meta Knight! He even teaches Kirby the Sword Beam!
* MrExposition: Justified. Who else would inform us about Star Warriors and Kirby's abilities?
* MysteriousProtector: Towards Kirby and his friends.
* MysteriousWatcher: Due to his habit of appearing out of nowhere to say something plot-relevant to the characters, this led to the speculation that he stalks Kirby and his friends on a regular basis. He even does so in the episode ''about GHOSTS'', resulting in a ScareChord when Tuff and Kirby see his glowing eyes emerge from the forest, only for the camera to zoom out and reveal that it's just Meta Knight.
* NamedWeapons: His sword, Galaxia.
* NotSoAboveItAll: He likes watching Dedede's channel and was amused when he hears a collectible of him was made, especially since it was highly sought after and rare.
* NotSoStoic: He is TheStoic most of the time though he does indicate when he's feeling amused on a number of occasions. Also, it's hard to be stoic when you get hit by a load of pie.
* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: In episode 3, while training Kirby. He {{Hand Wave}}s it by saying that Kirby can only awaken his powers when he's put in life-or-death situations. Though he could have beaten Kirby thoroughly if he didn't give him a chance to waken his powers.
* OnlySaneMan: Meta Knight is a sane person in an insane world. Or maybe, he's an insane person in an even crazier world. Whichever case it is, he's almost always the more level-headed person in the room besides Tiff.
* PetTheDog: To Sword and Blade, and occasionally Kirby in some of the later episodes.
* PreAsskickingOneLiner:
** In the Japanese original, "I am his majesty's loyal servant." before he '''kicks Escargoon's and Dedede's tank down a cliff.'''
** The dub version was just as great of a retaliation: "It pains me to do this, sire, but I must".
** And it's safe to say 30% of his lines are this. Another 30% are jokes and the last 40% is him being (non-)helpful.
* PungeonMaster: Yes, ''Meta Knight'' is this. Chance are, if he's in an episode, he'll make some pun relating to the situation at hand or whatever monster Dedede's ordered.
* SinkOrSwimMentor: Combined with StealthMentor.
%%* ShroudedInMyth
* SoleSurvivor: At first he thought he was the only Star Warrior with all the other ones dying in the war against Nightmare. [[spoiler:However, more Star Warriors start to show up who Meta Knight didn't know were still alive.]]
* SoProudOfYou: He never really tells Kirby this outright but Meta Knight is undoubtedly proud of Kirby's progress and maturation, best seen when his eyes glow blue.
* SweetTooth: Fans noticed that, in the episode where Meta Knight is seen enjoying Channel DDD, there's a jar of sweets in the corner. He's never shown eating sweets, but a lot of people get this trope from just that. The sweet jar appears in Meta Knight's room in a couple of other episodes as well so he probably does like sweets. He may also like tea as well.
* TheStoic: Meta Knight rarely lets anything ruffle him even when a monster is currently in destruction mode. Although [[NotSoStoic he does laugh]] several times in the series: when he notices that Escargoon and his mother look exactly alike, when he's seen watching Channel DDD, and when Tiff tells him to complain to the company that made an action figure of him.
* ThisIsSomethingHesGotToDoHimself: Towards the end of the series, he discusses this with his subordinates, stating that this is his reason for not helping out Kirby as much. It makes sense, because he's still testing Kirby's power as an individual, doing so by drawing further and further into isolation from him during his battles.
* TrainingFromHell: Meta Knight's methods of training Kirby usually involve him fighting for his life. Tiff might object to this but Meta Knight's reasons are that Kirby will only grow stronger if he is made to exceed his limits and that he will mature faster because of said harsh methods.
* WeMeetAgain: Said to [=WolfWrath=] near the beginning of episode 26.
* TheWorfEffect: Usually what happens whenever Meta Knight does get into a battle -- hence why the only instances in which he's been overpowered in a fight are with Wolfwrath, Masher, and the Pukey plant. This is probably [[JustifiedTrope justified]] due to having gone past his prime after all his years at war.
%%* ZenSurvivor
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Light Novels]]
!!'''Meta Knight'''
->''"A true warrior is capable of using every attack at his disposal!"''
[[quoteright:170:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/2a665cb7dfbb557f58d4f6adc3d28006.png]]
[[caption-width-right:170: The mysterious masked swordsman]]
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* AdaptationalJerkass: His arrogance and agressivity is much more pronounced here for most of the Novels, to the point of him being perfectly willing to attack some of his allies such as Kirby and King Dedede, when he feels frustrated enough. After some CharacterDevelopment, he slowly dials back on this, taming his own worst tendencies.
* AFatherToHisMen: Meta Knight deeply cares for Captain Vul, Sword Knight and Blade Knight, and the Meta-Knights, where his men are very zealous for him.
* BloodKnight: While implied in the games to an extent, Meta Knight is much more heavily shown to be one in the light novels. This is most clearly shown in ''Meta Knight and the Galaxy's Strongest Warrior''; when Galacta Knight seemingly vanishes in the middle of their fight, Meta Knight turns on Kirby and King Dedede despite the former's pleading, dissatisfied with the abrupt end of the fight.
* DeadpanSnarker: Starts being this to Kirby and King Dedede in the sixth volume.
* ItsPersonal: Upon his desire to put a stop to Baron Gallic's scheme.
* OnlySaneMan: Shares this role with Waddle Dee in terms of being the most levelheaded in regards to his dynamic with [[KidHero Kirby]] and [[{{Manchild}} King Dedede]].

[[/folder]]

* BadassAdorable: He's a WaddlingHead with the same cute face as Kirby. It's made extra adorable by the fact that he tries to hide said face with his mask, acting extremely shy and running away whenever it gets broken.

* GoodWingsEvilWings: Maintains a pair of sinister and evil-looking bat wings that gives off an antagonistic vibe. However, he's not viewed as a villain as he actually has a good heart despite that.

** In ''Squeak Squad'', he steals Kirby's chest (supposedly containing his cake) with good intentions, as [[spoiler:it actually contains Dark Nebula.]] This leads to Kirby chasing after him and then fighting him for said chest.

* MalevolentMaskedMan: Always wears his famous circular mask displaying his nothing but his piercing YellowEyesOfSneakiness and is a skilled and fearsome warrior. While his alignment for his first outing was iffy to say the least, thankfully its highly inverted as he's a lot more heroic than his appearance lets on.

* SilentSnarker: Tends to become this when adjacent to the lighthearted antics of the other heroes. For example, his reactions to the other characters' idle animations on the title screen of ''VideoGame/KirbysReturnToDreamLand''.

** In ''Kirby Super Star'' (and its remake), he'll attack you if you don't take the sword for 30 seconds (because the ship they're in is about to fall down). You can also "trick" him if you don't want to use the sword, by making a helper (or discarding your power and let your helper take it), then take the sword, then lose the Sword ability and turn your helper back into an ability-producing item.

* WakeUpCallBoss: He's often among the hardest boss in the games he's fought in (including ''[[VideoGame/KirbyAndTheAmazingMirror Amazing Mirror]]'', as Dark Meta Knight fights exactly like him). It's particularly noticeable in boss rushes such as the Arena and Helper to Hero.

* YellowEyesOfSneakiness: Possesses brightened yellow eyes that are seen peeking out of his mask. It's unknown if he's capable of showing any form of stealth but he seems to be quick enough to pull off a sneak attack.

* MalevolentMaskedMan: Always wears his famous circular mask displaying his nothing but his piercing YellowEyesOfSneakiness. While his alignment for his first outing was iffy to say the least, thankfully its highly inverted as he's a lot more heroic than his appearance lets on.

* MalevolentMaskedMan: Always wears his famous circular mask displaying his nothing but his YellowEyesOfSneakinesss. While his alignment for his first outing was iffy to say the least, thankfully its highly inverted as he's a lot more heroic than his appearance lets on.

* BootstrappedLeitmotif: For many years, he did not have a consistent character or battle theme. While the music for his boss battle in "Revenge of Meta Knight" was used a few times since then, he often ended up sharing King Dedede's battle theme in some later appearances. ''Planet Robobot'' eventually established "My Friend and the Sunset", the credits for "Revenge of Meta Knight", as his character theme, with ''Star Allies'' giving it a BossRemix for his battle as the third boss of said game.

* MagicKnight: He already exhibited the ability to generate [[FlamingSword fire from his sword]] and [[TornadoMove create cyclones]] with either his sword or wings, but the eventual reveal in ''Star Allies'' that he also has MindOverMatter powers officially confirms that he possesses a high level of magical prowess to compliment his MasterSwordsman skills. ''Forgotten Land'' elaborates on this more, with Meta Knight being able to still use all his usual powers even when separated from Galaxia and forced to use [[VideoGame/KirbysAdventure his old sword]], showing that all his magical prowess comes from him rather than just from wielding a particular sword.

* MesACrowd: The influence of the Jamba Heart in ''Star Allies'' gives him the ability to clone himself into up to four duplicates.

* MythologyGag: In ''Forgotten Land'', if Kirby steals the Galaxia during their boss fight, he'll pull out his old sword and use it instead.

* GlassCannon: In his playable appearances, he tends to fill this role. He is faster than Kirby and [[MasterSwordsman his sword can be used to break tough blocks that Kirby needs Hammer for]], but he often has half the [[LifeMeter health]] of Kirby or Dedede.

* MagicKnight: He already exhibited the ability to generate [[FlamingSword fire from his sword]] and [[TornadoMove create cyclones]] with either his sword or wings, but the eventual reveal in ''Star Allies'' that he also has MindOverMatter powers officially confirms that he possesses a high level of magical prowess to compliment his MasterSwordsman skills.