History Characters / KirbyKirbyAndFriends

[[WMG:[[center:''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'' [[Characters/{{Kirby}} Main Character Index]]\\
[-'''Main Series:''' [[Characters/KirbyHeroesAndSupportingCharacters Heroes and Supporting Characters]] ('''Kirby and Co.''' ([[Characters/KirbyKirby Kirby]] | [[Characters/KirbyKingDedede King Dedede]] | [[Characters/KirbyMetaKnight Meta Knight]])) | [[Characters/KirbyEnemies Enemies]] | [[Characters/KirbyRecurringBosses Recurring Bosses]] | [[Characters/KirbyVillainousFactions Villainous Factions]] ([[Characters/KirbyDarkMatter Dark Matter]]) | [[Characters/KirbyOtherMajorAntagonists Other Major Antagonists]] | [[Characters/KirbyOtherBosses Other Bosses]]\\
'''Other Continuities:''' ''Characters/KirbyRightBackAtYa'' | [[Characters/KirbyLightNovel Light Novel Characters]]-]]]]]

The primary cast of the various ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'' games, including Kirby and his closest companions
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[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:The Main Cast in General]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/setsubun_festival.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Trust us, they're all jolly fellows.[[note]]Left to right: Meta Knight, King Dedede, Kirby, and Bandana Waddle Dee[[/note]]]]

The main characters of the series. Kirby is our plucky hero, while the roles of his friends [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor vary greatly from game to game.]] Generally speaking, however, these are the guys who are trying to save the day.
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* BefriendingTheEnemy: All of them were Kirby's enemies at some point, but Kirby is such a [[IncorruptiblePurePureness kind soul]] that he eventually made all of them into his best friends.
* FireForgedFriends: ''Return to Dream Land'' was their first outing as a team and following that adventure, the four of them are shown to be quite close.
* TheFriendsWhoNeverHang: The four of them are pretty tight, but Meta Knight is rarely shown hanging out with the other three when "off-duty", so to speak, and even when he is, he's shown keeping to himself (such as by reading a book).
* FourTemperamentEnsemble:
** Kirby is '''Sanguine''', a happy-go-lucky AllLovingHero always trying to do the right thing and make friends. However, he is also pretty immature, and his naivety is often [[ChronicHeroSyndrome exploited]] by villains such as Marx [[spoiler:and Magolor]].
** Bandana Waddle Dee is '''Choleric''', a hard-working Waddle Dee soldier who continuously strives to be as strong as his friends, and on occasion can be quite defiant.
** Meta Knight is '''Melancholic''', an anti-social warrior who focuses heavily on his work, often not participating in the goofy antics of his partners, and has pretty bad self-image issues. [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness There was also]] [[VideoGame/KirbySuperStar that one time he invaded Dream Land for being too lazy]].
** King Dedede is '''Phlegmatic''', a greedy and sometimes lazy king who doesn't do much [[AuthorityInNameOnly "ruling"]] over his people. However, he's got some HiddenDepths and has been shown to have an ultimately good heart.
* HeelFaceTurn: Believe it or not, all of Kirby's now best friends had antagonized him at some point.
** King Dedede is famously Kirby's first rival, being the BigBad of [[VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand his first video game outing]]. However, after years of dealing with Kirby it seems he has grown fond of the little guy, and doesn't antagonize him unless he has been [[DemonicPossession possessed]] or [[BrainwashedAndCrazy brainwashed]]. Unfortunately, that happens more often than you would think.
** Meta Knight was (and to a small extent, still is) Kirby's rival/[[StealthMentor mentor]]. While the two are on pretty good terms nowadays, Meta Knight is still pretty aloof. Still, some FlavorText suggest that Meta Knight does consider Kirby and co. very good friends.
** Bandana Waddle Dee is an interesting case. His first appearance was as the first (and weakest) opponent in the MegatonPunch sub-game. When he later reappeared in ''Revenge of the King'', he was AffablyEvil at worst, and in subsequent appearances he and Kirby were shown to have struck up a friendship.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: ''Kirby Fighters 2'' makes it clear that King Dedede and Meta Knight's partnership runs deep; their bond is so strong that it creates a tower that pierces the heavens, leading to the game's story mode. Their boss fight has them work together in perfect harmony, and Dedede even saves Meta Knight's skin by tossing him half of a Maxim Tomato (and later [[spoiler:the Mask of Dark Bonds, when his own mask breaks]]).
* OddFriendship: A [[BuffySpeak cute blobby alien thing]] is best friends with a greedy [[AdiposeRex king penguin]], a mysterious masked knight, and a bandana-clad [[TheGoomba Waddle Dee]] warrior that loves apple juice. Not exactly a ''normal'' group of friends, to say the least, yet [[FireForgedFriends they've been through a lot together]] and have become as tight as can be.
* TrueCompanions: Despite their quirks, they're all close friends who frequently work together to save their homeland (and the universe/multiverse by extension). The opening of ''Return to Dream Land'' shows the four of them engaging in some playful antics, and their Guest Star ending slide and one of the Celebration Pictures in ''Star Allies'' shows them chilling under a tree and relaxing at the Fountain of Dreams, respectively.
* VillainKiller: None of these four have any qualms using aggressive and lethal means to deal with their foes, especially since they tend to be monstrous {{Eldritch Abomination}}s who would never accept any attempts to reform them.
* VitriolicBestBuds: Kirby and King Dedede have been known to fight each other since [[VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand the very first game]], and the latter's greed often causes the former to have to bring him down to earth. When a greater common foe shows up and threatens Dream Land, Popstar, and beyond, the two prove to be two of the TrueCompanions that the four show themselves to be despite their quirks, and they always pull through the tough times they get into in the end. Both Kirby and Dedede are also known to compete good-naturedly in eating contests and mini-games.
[[/folder]]
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[[folder:Kirby]]
!Kirby

!!!'''Debut:''' ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand'' (UsefulNotes/GameBoy, 1992)
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/MakikoOhmoto
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kirby_ksa.png]]

->''"[[CatchPhrase Hiii!]]"''

[[RealMenWearPink The Pink Demon. The Super Tuff Pink Puff.]] The [[Anime/KirbyRightBackAtYa Star Warrior]] of [[VideoGame/KirbyPlanetRobobot Infinite Power.]] The [[CartoonCreature pint-sized puffball]] who ''[[NotHyperbole literally]]'' [[BlackHoleBelly eats danger for breakfast]], and [[PowerCopying becomes anything the situation calls for]]. The [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu judge, jury and executioner]] of {{Eldritch Abomination}}s everywhere, and the SoleSurvivor of [[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate Galeem's assault]].\\
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'''[[TropeCodifier The]]''' BadassAdorable Hero.\\
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Kirby is a [[KidHero young]], pink alien from the Planet Popstar. {{Cheerful|Child}} and carefree, he lives by his basic instincts, [[BigEater eating]] whenever he is hungry and sleeping as soon as he gets tired. However this childlike nature [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass hides]] [[BadassAdorable surprising strength]] and bravery that shows itself whenever his home is threatened. With a stretchy mouth and vacuum breath, he can [[ExtremeOmnivore consume anything]] including [[BlackHoleBelly his enemies]] and he can absorb the [[PowerCopying abilities]] of certain things [[CannibalismSuperpower he has eaten]].
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->See Characters/KirbyKirby.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:King Dedede]]
!King Dedede
!!!'''Debut:''' ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand''
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/MasahiroSakurai (''Kirby 64'' and ''Super Smash Bros.''), Shinya Kumazaki (''Return to Dream Land'', ''Triple Deluxe'', ''Star Allies'')
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kf2_king_dedede_8.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click to see Masked Dedede]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kssu_masked_dedede_artwork.png[[/labelnote]]]]

-> ''"[[VideoGame/KirbysEpicYarn You can't be mean to my Waddle Dees!]] [[HypocriticalHeartwarming Only I can be mean to my Waddle Dees!]]"''

Hammer-wielding penguin ([[AmbiguousSpecies possibly]]) and self-proclaimed ruler of Dream Land, though he never really does anything related to administration. Usually ends up as the villain through {{Greed}} or DemonicPossession.
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->See Characters/KirbyKingDedede.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Meta Knight]]
!!!'''Debut:''' ''VideoGame/KirbysAdventure''
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Eric Newsome (''Super Smash Bros.'', English), Creator/AtsushiKisaichi (''Super Smash Bros.'', Japanese)
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kf2_meta_knight.png]]

-> ''"[[VideoGame/KirbySuperStar My one wish is to become stronger. So I wish to fight...]] [[WorthyOpponent the greatest warrior in the galaxy!]]"''

A masked swordsman that travels Dream Land searching for worthy opponents to hone his strength. He follows his own personal code of honor, a rarity among the residents of Dream Land, and commands his own army from his [[CoolAirship flying battleship]] the Halberd. His cape can transform into [[CapeWings bat wings]] allowing him to fly, and he wields the legendary blade Galaxia with [[MasterSwordsman incredible skill]] and [[SuperSpeed speed]]. While his morality is highly ambiguous, he generally seems to be an AntiHero, and while he resembles Kirby without the mask, his exact relationship with Kirby remains a mystery.
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->See Characters/KirbyMetaKnight.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Bandana Waddle Dee]]
!!!'''Debut:''' ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar''
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kf2_bandana_waddle_dee.png]]

-> ''"[[VideoGame/KirbyStarAllies I'm not just]] [[BadassAdorable a pretty face!]]"''

A seemingly high-ranking Waddle Dee in King Dedede's army. Distinguished by his blue bandana, which sets him apart from other Waddle Dees. He often acts as King Dedede's [[UndyingLoyalty sidekick]], despite also helping out Kirby from time to time. While [[AscendedExtra initially a minor antagonist,]] later games feature him as one of Kirby's best friends, [[TookALevelInBadass as well as being much stronger.]]
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* ADayInTheLimelight:
** ''VideoGame/KirbyAndTheRainbowCurse'' is one for him, being the first game that puts him in the spotlight as a playable character over King Dedede and Meta Knight, both of whom only appear as figurine cameos in the game.
** ''VideoGame/KirbyBattleRoyale'' can also be seen as one for him, where he is a major character in the Story Mode, playing the role of Kirby's partner throughout the Cake Royale.
* ADogNamedDog: He is a Waddle Dee named Waddle Dee. This trend finally ended in ''VideoGame/KirbyTripleDeluxe'' where he's rechristened [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Bandana Waddle Dee]].[[note]]While not referred to as such in-game, internal references in ''Kirby Super Star Ultra'' and ''Kirby's Dream Collection: Special Edition'' suggest HAL thought of him as Bandana Waddle Dee or Bandana Dee ahead of time.[[/note]]
* AffablyEvil: In ''Revenge of the King''. He's not really that bad of a guy, he's just ''very'' devoted to his boss. As a matter of fact, a majority of recent games seem to have dropped the "evil" part entirely, often depicting him hanging out more with Kirby than King Dedede, and in ''VideoGame/KirbyBattleRoyale'', where he and Kirby worked together in the Cake Royale tournament to gain the prize; he ends up helping Kirby [[spoiler:defeat his boss]].
* AscendedExtra:
** His first appearance was as an opponent in Megaton Punch in ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar''. In ''Super Star Ultra'', he appears as King Dedede's personal helper in ''Revenge of the King'', and takes the place of the Waddle Dee "[[ZeroEffortBoss Boss]]" in [[BossRush The Arena]]. After a cameo in ''Mass Attack'', he is a playable character in ''VideoGame/KirbysReturnToDreamLand'', aiding Kirby, Meta Knight, and his King.
** He's also thought to be the Waddle Dee from ''Kirby 64'' as further supported by standing in for him in Adeleine's ''Star Allies'' trailer.
** He also appears as Kirby's player two partner in ''VideoGame/KirbyAndTheRainbowCurse'', along with [[ColorCodedMultiplayer two differently colored Bandana Waddle Dees.]] In ''Videogame/KirbyBattleRoyale'' he's again Kirby's partner for the Cake Royale tournament.
** His impressive attendance record[[note]]From ''Mass Attack'' to ''Star Allies'', he only skipped ''Kirby Fighters Deluxe'', ''Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe'' and ''Videogame/KirbysBlowoutBlast'', while King Dedede and Meta Knight skipped some games, including major ones. If one just counts the main titles since his resurgence in ''Super Star Ultra'', his attendance record actually beats out both Meta Knight's and Dedede's[[/note]] is lampshaded in his ''Star Allies'' description.
-->"He's got stellar attendance in the Kirby series and deserves a prize. That bandana! That spear! With his courage, he sets himself apart from carefree parasol holders!"
* BadassAdorable: As lampshaded almost word-for-word by his FlavorText in ''Return to Dream Land'', don't let his [[BewareTheNiceOnes cute]] appearance fool you. Though he may be a Waddle Dee, this little guy has helped Kirby fight vicious monsters and even the occasional tyrannical overlord from time to time. In ''VideoGame/KirbyBattleRoyale'', he even assists Kirby in the final battle by [[spoiler:tossing him a cannon that he must use to destroy the Dededestroyer Z]]. There's also some points in the aforementioned game's story where he and Kirby must part ways and attend their own tournament battles. While the player doesn't get to see him partake in any of his own matches, the fact that Bandana Waddle Dee continues through the ranks alongside Kirby greatly implies that he can certainly hold his own in battle (against ''other Kirbys'', at that).
* BadassesWearBandanas: He wears a blue bandana and he's certainly more badass than most other Waddle Dees.
* BadassNormal: He's pretty much the most "normal" of the bunch in ''Return To Dream Land''.
* BigDamnHeroes: In ''Battle Royale'', it's probably safe to say that if Bandana Waddle Dee hadn't [[spoiler:tossed Kirby a cannon to shoot the Kirby copies spawned by the Dededestroyer Z back at it]], Kirby would have no way to even hit the FinalBoss.
* BigEater: It would appear that hanging out with King Dedede and Kirby long enough seems to have caused him to develop quite an appetite. Most prominent in ''VideoGame/KirbyBattleRoyale'', where he admits to entering King Dedede's Cake Royale Tournament [[IWasToldThereWouldBeCake for the sole sake of winning the big cake]] prize at the end of it.
* BladeOnAStick: His spear, taken from the spear-wielding Waddle Dee mooks from the anime, ''Canvas Curse'', ''Super Star Ultra'', and ''Epic Yarn''. He can even [[SpectacularSpinning twirl it]] like a [[ImprobableUseOfAWeapon helicopter blade]] to [[InstantFlightJustAddSpinning fly.]]
* BladeSpam: One of his attacks with his spear involve him stabbing in front of himself multiple times in rapid succession.
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: [[AvertedTrope Averted]]. Unlike the other base game Dream Friends in ''Star Allies'', he was spared the negative effects of the Jamba Heart, and as such is the only Dream Friend available from the start of the game. [[spoiler:It should be noted that the shockwaves unleashed by Void Termina (as well as Morpho Knight) can turn Bandana Waddle Dee (like every other other playable character) against Kirby, causing this trope to play straight for him. Kirby simply needs to either BeatTheCurseOutOfHim or throw a Friend Heart at him to free him from their control.]]
* BreakoutMookCharacter: From a one-shot appearance (in a minigame, no less) into one of the more prominent characters. His pause screen descriptions in ''Return to Dream Land'' and ''Star Allies'' lampshade his popularity.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Disregarding his time as a non-speaking background character, when he joined the main cast in ''Return to Dream Land'' his only real schtick was that he was TheGenericGuy [[BadassNormal compared to the other heroes.]] As the games went by, however, he gained more of a distinct personality, being [[JumpedAtTheCall the least reluctant]] of the heroes with a [[IJustWantToBeBadass desire to be as strong as his pals]]. He's also grown out of just being "King Dedede's NumberTwo" into explicitly being one of Kirby's best (and consistently appearing) friends and sometimes downright defiant [[spoiler:such as when he sticks by Kirby's side in ''Battle Royale'' even after being intimidated by Dedede]]. Compare the quote at the top of this folder to his timid nature seen in ''Return to Dream Land''.
* CompositeCharacter:
** ''Super Star Ultra'' reintroduced him to the franchise by combining his original appearance (a throwaway opponent in Megaton Punch) with the otherwise undistinguished Waddle Dee from The Arena that was only notable for its massive HP. ''Return to Dream Land'' adds in the Spear Waddle Dee element from the aforementioned game, which had previously appeared in [[Anime/KirbyRightBackAtYa the anime]] and ''Canvas Curse''.
** His FlavorText in ''Star Allies'' also implies that the reason HAL keeps using him is because he's a sort of stand-in for Waddle Dees in general, since they're very popular for their cute design but have never really been acknowledged despite the fact that they've been in the series since the first game. Supporting this is that, unlike every other Dream Friend, he isn't credited as debuting in a singular game.
** In promotional material pertaining to Adeleine and Ribbon being PromotedToPlayable in ''Star Allies'', one scene includes the whole gang from ''64'', with Bandana Waddle Dee in the role of 64's mostly nondescript Waddle Dee (unless Bandana Waddle Dee and that Waddle Dee were one and the same the whole time); however, one of the in-game "title screen interactions" has all of them appear, except that Bandana Waddle Dee is instead replaced with Parasol Waddle Dee.
* DemotedToExtra: In ''VideoGame/KirbyTripleDeluxe'' and ''VideoGame/KirbyPlanetRobobot'', he shows up in the background before bosses and minibosses to throw a healing item you can keep in reserve. Considering that in ''Triple Deluxe'', Meta Knight doesn't appear ''[[PutOnABus at all]]'' aside from a small cameo as one of Circus Kirby's balloons [[spoiler:and Dark Meta Knight, which isn't him]], Bandana Waddle Dee got off easy. In ''Team Kirby Clash Deluxe'' he only manages the Gem Apple Tree, not being playable. Yet again does he still get the better end of the deal compared to Meta Knight and even Dedede, who do not make any proper appearances in the game.
* DoubleJump: Exaggerated in his flight animation, which is just him jumping in midair to stay afloat, taken from how most helpers behave from ''Super Star''.
* EliteMooks: Waddle Dees are King Dedede's [[EvilMinions minions]], but this guy is apparently the top Waddle Dee. That being said, he's much more independent (not to mention stronger) than the other Waddle Dees, often aiding Kirby in his adventures and, in [[VideoGame/KirbyBattleRoyale one case]], he sided with Kirby against his boss.
* ExposedExtraterrestrials: He wears a blue bandana, but that's about it.
* FriendlyEnemy: Fiercely loyal to King Dedede, while at the same time being best friends with Kirby. Unlike King Dedede, Bandana Waddle Dee is more of a "friend" than "enemy" to Kirby, especially later on.
* TheGenericGuy: Before character development set in, he was this, being the least quirky of the main cast. However, see CharacterizationMarchesOn above.
* HardHead: Just like his allies, he can crush blocks and damage minor enemies above him simply by jumping beneath them. He can also damage enemies by falling headfirst (i.e after a long jump).
* IJustWantToBeBadass: ''Rainbow Curse'' implies this; he's really yearning for his fair share of the spotlight with the rest of the cast.
* ImageSong: Song of Apple Juice, which goes more into detail about Bandana Waddle Dee's [[IJustWantToBeBadass desire to be as brave and as strong as his allies.]]
* JavelinThrower: As part of Spear's moveset, he can throw his spear at enemies after running or dash-jumping; he seems to freely summon new spears out of nowhere. The running spear throw can [[ChargedAttack be charged]] to make him throw 3 spears in a SpreadShot, while the dash-jump spear throw can be [[SpamAttack repeated multiple times before he lands]].
* JumpedAtTheCall: In both ''Return to Dream Land'' and ''Rainbow Curse'', he jumps at the first opportunity to save the day with Kirby. In ''Battle Royale'', he even went ahead of Kirby to the Cake Royale tournament once he heard news of it. In ''Star Allies'', he's available as a Dream Friend as soon as you complete the second stage.
* KillerRabbit: He looks as cute and harmless as any other Waddle Dee, but make no mistake, this little guy is very brave and quite strong, despite his size.
* TheLancer: He usually serves as one to King Dedede. But in ''Rainbow Curse'' and ''Battle Royale'', he's Kirby's lancer. Considering his weapon of choice, [[{{Pun}} this trope can be taken literally]].
* {{Leitmotif}}: The "Apple Scramble" theme from ''Kirby Battle Royale'' became that for him, especially after the lyrical version ("The Apple Juice Song") from the ''Kirby 25th Anniversary Orchestra Concert'' "Memorial Arrange" CD.
* MesACrowd: In ''Rainbow Curse'', there are at least two other versions of Bandana Waddle Dee that assist Kirby and Elline. A 4-koma comic strip released by Nintendo seems to provide an [[JustifiedTrope in-universe justification for why]]: Elline supposedly [[ArtInitiatesLife created them]] to assist the trio on their adventure.
* MookFaceTurn: He wasn't really all that evil to begin with, but he's gone from only being Dedede's NumberTwo to one of the series' main protagonists and Kirby's friend.
* MythologyGag: He wields a spear, much like other Waddle Dees in the anime.
* NoMouth: Like all Waddle Dees. As such, he mostly expresses emotion through his eyes or body language.
* NoNameGiven: Prior to ''Triple Deluxe'', most official material refers to him simply as "Waddle Dee".
* NumberTwo: To King Dedede, and Kirby in the later games.
* OhCrap: Like most of the cast, this is his reaction when things go wrong or he gets very startled. Some notable examples include [[spoiler:Magolor showing off his newly-acquired powered-up form via the Master Crown's power, and the reveal of his plan to take over the universe]], or whenever he comes across an angry King Dedede.
** In the opening to ''Rainbow Curse'', he briefly flips out trying to warn Kirby of the impending doom before [[LifeDrain having his color drained.]] After he and Kirby are revived by Elline, he's obviously much more collected.
* OneTrackMindedHunger: In ''VideoGame/KirbyBattleRoyale'', Bandana Waddle Dee explains to Kirby that he spent all night traveling to King Dedede's castle in order to register for his Cake Royale tournament, in order to win his deluxe cake prize, at the cost of not getting any sleep.
* ParasolOfPain: In ''Battle Royale'', he wields a parasol instead of a spear. Perhaps a reference to how using the Waddle Dee amiibo in ''Planet Robobot'' modifies Parasol Kirby's appearance, allowing Kirby to gain Bandana Waddle Dee's orange/maroon skin tone and even don his trademark blue bandana (as Spear isn't in that game).
* RedemptionPromotion: Upon becoming one of the heroes in ''VideoGame/KirbysReturnToDreamLand'', he becomes ''much'' more powerful.
* RedOniBlueOni: For the most part, he seems to be the blue to Kirby's red in ''Battle Royale''.
* RidiculouslyCuteCritter: Oversized head? He is all head. Big, orange/maroon colored, stubby limbs, large eyes... no fur, but the chubbiness and softness more than makes up for it.
* SignatureHeadgear: As noted by his very name, the biggest difference between him and other Waddle Dees, and the thing that makes him most stand out through UniformityException, is the tied blue bandanna he wears as a hat. In fact, there's implications that he's been a character through the series even before gaining the bandanna, but it's only once he started wearing it that he became notable enough to act as a specific individual separate from his species.
* SlideAttack: Just like his allies who can also utilize it, one of his basic moves is a quick sliding kick. It works as an attack and for an evasive maneuver.
** He also gained a unique one through the ''Star Allies'' 4.0 update, planting the tip of his spear into the ground and plowing through foes while completely invincible.
* SpinAttack: To hover with the spear. In ''Star Allies'', this move can be modified with different elements, giving it different properties.
* SuddenlyVoiced: From being either TheVoiceless or HeroicMime...
** He constantly converses with his king in ''Revenge of the King'', commenting on Kirby's progress through Castle Dedede.
** He speaks quite a bit in ''Videogame/TeamKirbyClashDeluxe'', being an NPC that Kirby can talk with.
** In ''VideoGame/KirbyBattleRoyale'', he gives Kirby advice in the tutorial level and becomes his partner in Dedede's tournament. A Japanese accolades trailer for the aforementioned game even has him speak in audio for the very first time.
** He also has his own ImageSong (Song of Apple Juice), which he himself sings.
* StabTheSky: One of his moves with the spear is to stab upward, hitting airborne enemies.
* SuperStrength: Only seen in Megaton Punch (and even then, he's the weakest of the contestants). Everywhere else, he's about on par with Kirby.
* SuperToughness: His soft, rubbery body is surprisingly durable in a fight allowing him to take all manner of punishment. Across the games where he's playable, he's been flattened, blasted by missiles and cannonballs, shot out of cannons, taken energy blasts to the face, burned by jet flames, DBZ level {{Wave Motion Gun}}s, planet eclipsing explosions, and more, yet he always comes [[{{Pun}} bouncing back]].
* SwordPlant: One of his moves with the spear is him falling down from the air spear-first.
* TookALevelInBadass: He was once a joke boss from ''[[VideoGame/KirbySuperStar Kirby Super Star Ultra]]'', but he becomes a capable fighter in ''VideoGame/KirbysReturnToDreamLand''. Also, while the player doesn't actually see Bandana Waddle Dee participate in any solo battles of his own, ''VideoGame/KirbyBattleRoyale'' strongly implies that he can certainly hold his own in battle without Kirby's assistance.
* UndyingLoyalty: Implied, towards King Dedede. He usually helps the King with all his schemes. The anime states that Waddle Dees in general are extremely loyal creatures to whomever treats them nicely (which is why so many follow King Dedede). If he is the same Waddle Dee from ''64'', it would explain [[IOweYouMyLife why he's loyal to Kirby as well.]]
* UniformityException: Provides the current page image. He can be told apart from other Waddle Dees due to the fact that he usually always wears his trademark blue bandana and has slightly redder skin than most Waddle Dees. He's also the first Waddle Dee to [[spoiler:knowingly oppose King Dedede]], in ''Battle Royale''. [[spoiler:Well, he's technically the second Waddle Dee to do this, if one wishes to count Sailor Waddle Dee in ''Revenge of Meta Knight'']].
* UniqueEnemy: Not an enemy, but with Spear cut from the list of Copy Abilities Kirby can obtain in ''Star Allies'', he's the only playable character that can use Spear's moveset in the aforementioned game.
* TheVoiceless:
** He's the only character not to have any VoiceGrunting in ''Return to Dream Land''. He had dialogue in ''Revenge of the King'', ''VideoGame/TeamKirbyClashDeluxe'' and ''VideoGame/KirbyBattleRoyale'', so he's not a full-blown HeroicMime.
** ''Rainbow Curse'' also had him and his palette swap buddies make a noise upon summon. This noise is also retained as his voice clips (as well as all other Waddle Dees) for ''VideoGame/KirbyBattleRoyale''. He's back to being silent in ''Star Allies'', but the voice returns in ''[[Videogame/KirbyFightersDeluxe Kirby Fighters 2]]''.
* WaddlingHead: Well, he IS a Waddle Dee.
* ZeroEffortBoss:
** In Megaton Punch, Kirby almost has to perform poorly on purpose to lose to him.
** In Revenge of the King, he's merely a normal Waddle Dee with a lot of health. Kirby can inhale him for a OneHitKill.
[[/folder]]
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* BladeOnAStick: His spear, taken from the spear-wielding Waddle Dee mooks from the anime, ''Canvas Curse'', ''Super Star Ultra'' and ''Epic Yarn''. He can even [[SpectacularSpinning twirl it]] [[ImprobableUseOfAWeapon like a helicopter blade]] [[InstantFlightJustAddSpinning to fly.]]

* BladeOnAStick: His spear, taken from the spear-wielding Waddle Dee mooks from the anime, ''Canvas Curse'', ''Super Star Ultra'' and ''Epic Yarn''. He can even [[EverythingsBetterWithSpinning twirl it]] [[ImprobableUseOfAWeapon like a helicopter blade]] [[InstantFlightJustAddSpinning to fly.]]

[-'''Main Series:''' [[Characters/KirbyHeroesAndSupportingCharacters Heroes and Supporting Characters]] ('''Kirby and Co.'''([[Characters/KirbyKirby Kirby]] | [[Characters/KirbyKingDedede King Dedede]] | [[Characters/KirbyMetaKnight Meta Knight]])) | [[Characters/KirbyEnemies Enemies]] | [[Characters/KirbyRecurringBosses Recurring Bosses]] | [[Characters/KirbyVillainousFactions Villainous Factions]] ([[Characters/KirbyDarkMatter Dark Matter]]) | [[Characters/KirbyOtherMajorAntagonists Other Major Antagonists]] | [[Characters/KirbyOtherBosses Other Bosses]]\\

[-'''Main Series:''' [[Characters/KirbyHeroesAndSupportingCharacters Heroes and Supporting Characters]] ('''Kirby and Co.''') | [[Characters/KirbyEnemies Enemies]] | [[Characters/KirbyRecurringBosses Recurring Bosses]] | [[Characters/KirbyVillainousFactions Villainous Factions]] ([[Characters/KirbyDarkMatter Dark Matter]]) | [[Characters/KirbyOtherMajorAntagonists Other Major Antagonists]] | [[Characters/KirbyOtherBosses Other Bosses]]\\

->See Characeters/KirbyKirby.

* AllLovingHero: Downplayed; Kirby is nice, caring, and perfectly willing to forgive his enemies if they desire to reform; if one chooses to refuse his offer of redemption, ''he will end you''.
* AdorableAbomination: Kirby is a small, adorably plushy alien with a CannibalismSuperpower [[spoiler:who's heavily implied to be related to DestroyerDeity Void Termina]].
* AmbiguousGender: Although localized with masculine pronouns elsewhere, Kirby's gender is generally seen as more [[ShesAManInJapan androgynous]] in the original Japanese, likely in order to better appeal to boys and girls in that market. Kirby dresses up as Music/KyaryPamyuPamyu in the 2014 [[UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS New Nintendo 3DS]] artwork and an Empress doll in the 2017 ''Hinamatsuri'' artwork, and is depicted alongside both the girls' and the boys' groups in the 2018 Valentine's Day and 2019 White Day art, respectively. This also happens in the games, with the more recent ''[[VideoGame/KirbyFighters2 Kirby Fighters]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/TeamKirbyClashDeluxe Team Kirby Clash]]'' [[VideoGame/SuperKirbyClash spinoffs]] having [[UnlockableContent alternate costumes]] with [[TertiarySexualCharacteristics gendered characteristics]] such as the MagicalGirl outfit. It should be noted that Kirby prefers the first-person pronoun ''[[UsefulNotes/JapanesePronouns boku]]'' in the few speaking occasions and is usually said to be referred to as ''[[UsefulNotes/JapaneseHonorifics -kun]]'' by other characters such as Ado/Adeleine, which are typically identifiers for a young male in Japanese speech (though can also apply to the {{tomboy}} [[{{bokukko}} archtype]]); however, even Creator/MasahiroSakurai once teased that Kirby could actually be [[SamusISAGirl female]], and Japanese sources including Creator/MakikoOhmoto have stated that Kirby's true sex is [[NonHumanNonBinary unknown]].
* AmbiguouslyRelated:
** [[Anime/KirbyRightBackAtYa The anime]] suggests [[spoiler:Kirby is a rebellious former creation of [=eNeMeE=], or a failed prototype completely lacking evil intent]]. However, nothing officially confirms this.
** [[spoiler:The final boss and epilogue of ''Star Allies'' very heavily implies that Kirby has some sort of connection to Void Termina and, by extension, ''Dark Matter'',]] but no clear cut answers are ever given.
** TheReveal in Meta Knight's fight in ''VideoGame/KirbysAdventure'' seems to have been intended to confirm that they're of the same species, but DivergentCharacterEvolution as soon as MK's second appearance but a certain amount of doubt on the idea. Similarly, Galacta Knight and [[spoiler:Morpho Knight]] at the very least look very similar to both of them, but any further connection is theoretical at best.
* AngryEyebrows: He doesn't just sport these on the [[AmericanKirbyIsHardcore boxart]] either. Kirby will commonly adopt this expression when he's had enough and it's time to get serious.
** In some of the games since ''Videogame/KirbysReturnToDreamLand'', there'll be times where, after Kirby hops on a Warp Star, he'll [[NoticingTheFourthWall look at the screen with such brows and a determined nod]] before the star brings him to his next destination.
** ''VideoGame/KirbyTripleDeluxe'' has him briefly sporting one in Hypernova form [[spoiler:right before he vaporizes Queen Sectonia with her own reflected WaveMotionGun]].
** "[[VideoGame/KirbyPlanetRobobot Your people have unfortunately been seen as...obstacles]]." You should ''not'' have said that, Susie.
** He also uses this expression in ''Videogame/KirbyStarAllies'' [[spoiler:when he's fighting on the Star Allies Sparkler against Void Termina.]]
* BadassAdorable: Don't let his [[BewareTheNiceOnes cute]] appearance fool you. He fights tyrannical despots and vicious monsters on a regular basis, and he (in some cases, literally) eats {{Eldritch Abomination}}s for breakfast, many of which would have made countless other heroes weep with fear. ''Planet Robobot'' has [[spoiler:a reality warping omnicidal AI struggle to try to calculate his power level before settling for listing it as [[ReadingsAreOffTheScale infinite]]]]. His mere walk in 3D games is pure badass, especially when he's carrying something. ''Star Allies'' takes this UpToEleven [[spoiler:by having him kill Void Termina in a BeamOWar with an energy beam made from ThePowerOfLove itself]].
* BadPowersGoodPeople: Characters with a CannibalismSuperpower aren't usually part of the heroes, and even rarer are heroic characters that treat such an ability casually as a simple way of life. But despite eating living beings and assimilating their abilities being his entire powerset, Kirby is still a sweet and friendly guy whose always up for helping whenever a crisis occurs, and has close friendships with numerous characters, including former enemies. It helps that, barring rare instances of DeaderThanDead, none of the characters permanently stay dead, with implications that almost every boss has a form of ResurrectiveImmortality, since every successive mini-boss and recurring boss description talks as if they're the same character each time, with some like Kracko outright confirming their cases, so outside rivalries and working for villains, him eating them causes no hard feelings. It's even suggested that normal enemies, even ones that were swallowed, don't really die since they'll reappear in the exact spot they were in if the player backtracks... but ''only'' if they were defeated in some way.
* BeTheBall: Kirby is forcibly transformed into a ball in ''Canvas Curse'' that you have to guide around. Kirby also learns in ''Rainbow Curse'' how to tuck his arms and legs into his body in order to willingly become a ball, which also can be guided around. Earlier on, he also had the Ball power from ''VideoGame/KirbysAdventure'', which lets him change into and function as a HyperDestructiveBouncingBall.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Villains would last a lot longer if they just left Kirby and Popstar alone. Unfortunately, Popstar is a WeirdnessMagnet.
* BigEater: Kirby loves to eat and it [[PersonalityPowers fits his abilities too]]. In Gourmet Race in ''Kirby Super Star'', he even races against his equally gluttonous rival King Dedede to see who can eat more.
* BlackBeadEyes: In earlier appearances. He now has dark blue irises, but his eyes are still bead-like, to the extent that ''Kirby's Epic Yarn'' [[ArtShift outright makes them beads]].
* BlackHoleBelly: The current page picture for the trope. Kirby can inhale things larger than himself as his mouth stretches to fit them. However, he's [[ContractualBossImmunity unable to inhale boss sized foes]], and mini-bosses must be [=KOed=] before they can be inhaled [[note]]in the anime, Meta Knight explains that Kirby can't inhale excessively large or heavy objects[[/note]]. The Hypernova ability from ''VideoGame/KirbyTripleDeluxe'' makes this pretty much literal.
* BlushSticker: Kirby's are [[FacialMarkings permanent]].
* BlowYouAway: After inhaling a gulp of air to fly, Kirby can release the compressed air held in his mouth to damage a foe in front of him. It's pretty weak, unable to damage most bosses and mid-bosses, serving primarily as an EmergencyWeapon.
* ButtMonkey: Most cinematics not related to the plot involve Kirby getting into some kind of trouble. Case in point, the level title cards in ''Dream Land'' and ''Adventure'', and the blooper reel in ''Super Star Ultra''.
* CaptainCrash: Every flight on the Warp Star ends with it colliding with the ground or being destroyed in some form.
* CartoonCreature: The name of Kirby's (and presumably Meta's [[spoiler:and Galacta's]]) species is never revealed. The closest we ever get are endearing descriptions like "Puffball", "Marshmallow", and "Balloon".
* CatchPhrase: Two: "Hiii!" and "Poyo!". Both are somewhat [[AbandonedCatchphrase discredited]], with the latter only ever appearing in the anime (and ''VideoGame/KirbyMassAttack'') and the former not appearing nearly as often as it used to.
* CheerfulChild: His cheerful and innocent personality contrasts amusingly with his powers, making it easy for foes to dismiss him as JustAKid.
* ChronicHeroSyndrome: Has shades of this, as shown in ''Kirby 64'' and ''VideoGame/KirbysReturnToDreamLand'' where his immediate reaction to finding out someone's problem is to offer his aid to them.
* CuteLittleFangs: He has a right one in "Kirby of the Stars Moretsu Pupupu Hour!"
* DeathbringerTheAdorable: According to Creator/ShigeruMiyamoto, he was named Kirby because of the amusing contrast between such a manly name and his cute appearance.
* DeathGlare: Yes, you read that right.
** Kirby shoots [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/akhep8yl_by_gyroidsir_d8gha6s.jpg a hilarious one]] at the camera when the tutorial calls him a "[[WhoWritesThisCrap jolly fellow]]" in ''Super Star''.
** He also does this in both ''Triple Deluxe'' and ''Planet Robobot'', to [[spoiler:Queen Sectonia]] and to Susie respectively.
* DidWeJustHaveTeaWithCthulhu: Kirby, the titular protagonist of the series, is implied to be much more powerful than he lets on. He's the only one who can stand up to many of the evil abominations that threaten Dream Land. ''VideoGame/KirbySqueakSquad'' shows that the inside of his body is a StomachOfHolding where he converts the things he swallows into bubbles to be used later. ''VideoGame/KirbyStarAllies'' implies that [[spoiler:Kirby is just a good incarnation or creation of Void Termina, the God of Destruction who is also implied to be the MonsterProgenitor of the evil Dark Matter.]]
* DiscardAndDraw: The limitation of Kirby's Copy Ability. He can only use one Ability at a time and must discard his current ability if he wishes to obtain a new one.
* DoesNotLikeSpam: While Kirby can and will eat almost anything, swallowing the [[SpidersAreScary Mariel]] enemy in [=KDL3=] and Kirby 64 will actually damage him.
* DreadfulMusician: Kirby loves to sing. Unfortunately, he is completely tone deaf, not to mention ''loud'', to the extent that it becomes a screen-clearing SmartBomb attack in the games, and in the anime, a full minute of his caterwauling reduces Castle Dedede to rubble. The early games' description for the mike copy power and the microphone item from the first game state that Kirby is at least aware that he is not a good singer.
* DullEyesOfUnhappiness: [[spoiler:When selecting Soul Melter EX difficulty in [[VideoGame/KirbyStarAllies The Ultimate Choice]]]], Kirby is given blank eyes, [[spoiler:looking similar to Void Termina's core's "main" face]].
* EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference: Early on, Kirby had completely black eyes instead of blue eyes and his blush stickers were instead a simplistic blush. His face compared to his body was also smaller back then, making him look puffier and rounder. [[spoiler:This design is even available as an unlockable bonus in ''Kirby Star Allies''.]]
* EatingTheEnemy: Although Kirby's heroic, he's certainly not above eating any foe unlucky enough to get in his way.
* EvilCounterpart: [[spoiler:Subverted.]] In ''The Amazing Mirror'', Shadow Kirby [[spoiler:actually just wants to protect the Mirror World, much like Kirby to Dream Land]]. The alternate Shadow Kirby in ''Triple Deluxe's'' Kirby Fighters is the FinalBoss.
* ExoticEyeDesigns: In ''VideoGame/KirbyStarAllies'', Kirby now has what looks like starry vistas in the blue part of his eyes.
* ExposedExtraterrestrials: He sometimes wears hats, but that's about it.
* ExtremeOmnivore: There are a select few things he will not eat, such as the "fuzzy" worms from the Twin Woods boss, but for the most part, he is fine with swallowing anything he can get into his mouth.
* FingerlessHands: Kirby is able to wield swords, hammers, umbrellas, and still more weaponry with his stubby little arms.
* {{Flanderization}}:
** Kirby's a well-known BigEater, but ''Squeak Squad'' behaves as if this is his sole motivation, using the pursuit of some strawberry shortcake as an ExcusePlot for another adventure (with the necessary and unfortunate result of Kirby slaughtering his way through hundreds of innocent bystanders).
** Kirby's cuteness has increasingly crowded out other character traits with time (especially any sense of comedy); this was undoubtedly helped in part by his anime portrayal, in which he's officially a baby.
* {{Flight}}: Kirby can fly by sucking in air and flapping his arms. It's not very fast though so he uses his [[SkySurfing Warp Star]] when he needs to travel quickly.
* GogglesDoNothing: While riding on Wheelie Rider or Robobot Armor, he wears a helmet with goggles, but he doesn't put the goggles on his eyes.
* GoodIsNotSoft: [[BlobMonster Ironically]], his general behavior in the games indicates something like this. If he thinks someone's up to no good, he won't hesitate to beat them up, and if somebody refuses his offer of redemption and friendship [[DefeatMeansFriendship even after having their butt kicked]], then they might as well give a sorrowful goodbye not just to their life, but to their very ''soul''.
* HardHead: He can crush blocks and damage minor enemies above him simply by jumping beneath them. He can also damage enemies by falling headfirst (i.e after a long jump).
* TheHero: He's the one saving the day in all games.
* HeroicMime: In most games, he can't manage more than a "Hi!" or a "Poyo!" He does speak in ''Epic Yarn'', but only with narration. In earlier games, he narrated the instruction manual to the player, and in the Game Boy Advance games, the pause screen descriptions for his [[PowerCopying Copy Abilities]] is delivered in first person. In ''Avalanche,'' Kirby speaks in full sentences when delivering trash-talk to his opponents before a match. He also sometimes [[CallingYourAttacks calls his attacks]] with certain copy abilities, especially in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros''
* InSeriesNickname: In Japanese: ''Hoshi no Kirby'' ("Kirby of the Stars").
* InexplicablyAwesome: It's a mystery as to what Kirby is or where he came from, or why he has his powers.
* InnocentBlueEyes: His blue BlackBeadEyes help clue in his innocent and naive nature.
* InstantExpert: His Copy Ability lets him learn any ability near instantaneously. He even shows this on occasion without his Copy Abilities. In ''Planet Robobot'', despite never seeing the Robobot Armor before, he's able to quickly get the hang of piloting it.
* JumpedAtTheCall: When a threat comes to Planet Popstar, or a stranger is in need, Kirby will ''always'' be there to help.
* KidHero:
** His [[VagueAge age]] is never specifically stated in the games, but the first game's [[AllThereInTheManual instruction manual]] refers to him as a "little boy". This and his high-pitched voice and childish mannerisms suggests he's young.
** In the [[AlternateContinuity anime's continuity]] it's explained that Kirby wasn't meant to awaken for another 200 years but because of King Dedede's actions he was called to Planet Popstar before his powers were fully developed and he has the ''mentality'' of a baby as a result.
** Despite typically appearing young, a cancelled game called ''Kid Kirby'' for the SNES or [=N64=] would have been about [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Kirby as a child]], which would have suggested his current age is at least a teenager.
* KillerRabbit: Kirby's fighting skills contrast greatly with his cute appearance.
* LostFoodGrievance: Stealing Kirby's food is a pretty easy way to piss him off. In the first game he volunteers to get the food back that King Dedede stole and in ''Squeak Squad'' the pursuit of his strawberry shortcake, stolen by the titular mice, becomes his primary motivation in spite of [[HalfwayPlotSwitch everything else]] happening around him. In ''Rainbow Curse'', the intro shows Kirby so distraught over his de-colored apple, Elline has to smack him to turn his focus over to the real problem. Once that's done, Kirby can't help but gaze longfully at his apple again, which implies one of his motivations to save Popstar is so he can eat again.
* LuminescentBlush: In the GoldenEnding of Crystal Shards, Kirby's whole face goes bright red [[spoiler:[[CrushBlush after Ribbon kisses him]]]].
* MesACrowd:
** Because of the events of ''the Amazing Mirror'', there are at least three other versions of Kirby running around. Provides an [[JustifiedTrope in-universe justification for why]] there's multiple Kirby's that can be played at the same time in future games.
** During ''VideoGame/KirbyMassAttack'', the BigBad turns the one normal sized Kirby into 10 much smaller ones, who then have to work together. Unlike ''Amazing Mirror'', they're suggested to still have some sort of inate connection.
* MrViceGuy: He has a bit of a gluttony problem, though obviously not to the same degree as King Dedede
* NiceGuy: Kirby is by-far the nicest guy you could ever meet. The tutorial in ''Super Star'' even calls him a "jolly fellow", which he seems to resent.
* NiceHat: Starting from ''Kirby Super Star'' and consistently since ''Nightmare in Dream Land'', Kirby gets a special hat for (almost) all of his abilities, though it's not until ''Nightmare in Dream Land'' that the hats become a staple. Since then, the ability hats evolve in different ways in multiple games. In ''Team Kirby Clash Deluxe'' he can get alternate hats for each power that serve as upgraded armor, while in ''Kirby Fighters Deluxe'' and ''Kirby Battle Royale'' the extra hats are mostly cosmetic.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: In ''Kirby's Adventure'', Kirby fights King Dedede and his minions to get the Star Rod back, thinking Dedede was acting selfishly by breaking the Star Rod and causing Dream Land to be unable to dream or have restful sleep. Kirby, convinced that Dedede is the bad guy, collects the Star Rod's pieces and then puts it into the Fountain of Dreams, [[spoiler:which unwittingly releases Nightmare, who Dedede was trying to keep from being unleashed. In the end, after Kirby defeats Nightmare, it's revealed that Dedede did what he did for good intentions (although the part about bathing in the fountain is quite questionable, to say the least)]].
* TheNoseless: Though like with his FingerlessHands, it does not preclude him [[InvisibleAnatomy doing things that require one]]. He sneezes in game cutscenes, wipes his nose in imitation of Knuckle Joe (who also doesn't have a nose) in the anime, and snorts up an entire Wapod in the manga.
* OneManArmy: While Kirby excels with the help of his friends, he can certainly hold his own in a serious one-on-one battle, as Meta Knight, Galacta Knight, and many a Soul-boss can attest to.
* OneTrackMindedHunger: Kirby spends the majority of ''Kirby: Squeak Squad'' in pursuit of his stolen strawberry shortcake, completely oblivious of what's going on around him. He's at least better at it in ''Rainbow Curse'' and ''Battle Royale'', although food is still his primary motivations there.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Considering how cheerful he normally acts, you ''know'' shit's about to get real when he gives a DeathGlare to [[spoiler:Queen Sectonia right before he blasts her away with her WaveMotionGun]]. He does a similar DeathGlare to Susie when her words offend him.
* OutOfCharacterMoment: In ''Avalanche'', he's often sarcastic and rude to his opponents.
* PocketDimension: His stomach is implied to be one in ''Kirby: Squeak Squad'' and the anime.
* PowerCopying: Starting with ''Kirby's Adventure'', Kirby is able to absorb the powers of certain enemies he eats.
* ProtagonistTitle: He is the protagonist of his [[Franchise/{{Kirby}} eponymous series]].
* RedBaron: According to The Arena's description, Kirby is also called the "Pink Wonder" (in ''Super Star''), the "pink terror" (in ''Ultra''), or even the Pink Demon (in ''Planet Robobot'').
* RedOniBlueOni: Kirby's the red to Meta Knight's blue, it's even reflected in their colors. Kirby; pink with red feet is young, cheerful, innocent and (at times) impulsive, while Meta Knight; blue with purple feet is cold, calculating and serious. He can also be considered the red to Bandana Waddle Dee's blue.
* RidiculouslyCuteCritter: Oversized head? [[WaddlingHead He is all head.]] Big, pink colored, stubby limbs, a big smile, large eyes... no fur, but the chubbiness and softness more than makes up for it.
* ShipTease: With [=ChuChu=] in ''Dream Land 3'' and Ribbon in ''Kirby 64''.
* ShowyInvincibleHero: There's no question Kirby will win. The only questions are how he wins, how cool it looks, and how much fun the player will have.
* SilentSnarker: In ''Super Star'', he gives the camera an [[WhoWritesThisCrap annoyed]] look when the Tutorial calls him "A pretty jolly fellow".
* SignatureMove: His [[VacuumMouth Inhale]] ability as well as [[PowerCopying copying]] his [[CannibalismSuperpower enemy's]] powers.
* SkilledButNaive: He's one of the strongest people in Dream Land in spite of still being a child; and there are hints that he has the potential to [[StrongerWithAge become even stronger as he ages]]. However, being young means that he's rather impulsive and easily manipulated by smarter villains.
* SkySurfing: Kirby's Warpstar lets him do this. It can move at [[FasterThanLightTravel warp speed]] and he generally uses it whenever he needs to travel long distances quickly. [[CaptainCrash He's not very good at landing it,]] though.
* SlideAttack: One of his basic moves is a quick sliding kick. It works as an attack and for an evasive maneuver. In the later games, this also helps Kirby destroy things while holding an item.
* SpannerInTheWorks: Whenever Kirby's not being an UnwittingPawn, he routinely enters the villain's scheme as an unintended variable. Taking it even further, barring ''Milky Way Wishes'' and the reappearances of Dark Matter where he knows full well how dangerous it and Zero are, Kirby himself never enters an adventure ''intending'' to end up in some epic clash to save the galaxy [[note]]He enters the scene just because his peace has been disturbed and he'd like to know ''why''[[/note]], it just sort of ends up ''happening'' every time.
* StarPower: Kirby's mainly powered with the power of the stars. His most basic attack will make him spit stars at his opponents. Then there's the Star Rod, Starship, Triple Star (although it was Daroach's), [[spoiler:Robobot Halberd Mode's Planet Buster]], Friend Star and [[spoiler:Star Allies Sparkler]], all of them utilizing the star power in their own ways. Also the Sparkling Stars in ''Dream Land'' and the Milky Way Wishes in ''Super Star'' (the latter forms the Starship) and the Warp Stars that he uses to move around, even into space. He isn't the "Kirby of the Stars" for nothing.
* SuperpowerLottery: On his own, Kirby's pretty capable and relatively skilled, but when utilizing his signature power, the sky's the limit. Kirby's PowerCopying (especially in later games) isn't just recreating a single move or technique -- [[InstantExpert it is instant, total cognition of his ability and all of its applicable utilities; no training or learning required, automatic mastery]]. Kirby can quite literally ''do'' anything, ''with'' anything, ''from'' anything in ''any'' fashion. The only thing keeping it from being a StoryBreakerPower is that Kirby can only use [[DiscardAndDraw one of these powers at a time]], but even then, some games such as ''Squeak Squad'' and ''Star Allies'' have Kirby be able to combine his Copy Abilities making them stronger.
* SuperSpit: His basic ability Star Spit is him spitting out the inhaled enemy/debris/floating stars out as a projectile attack. It's moderately strong against bosses (stronger than many Copy Ability attacks), especially if Kirby manages to inhale two or more things before the spit.
* SuperStrength: Kirby displays this in both his base form and his various Copy Abilities. He's capable of cracking planets with his fists as Fighter Kirby, can swing giant swords and hammers with ease, and in the anime he chucked a monster clear out of orbit and into a black hole as Throw Kirby, and [[HurlItIntoTheSun launches a monster to the sun and back]] on a frying pan.
* SuperToughness: His soft, rubbery body is surprisingly durable in a fight allowing him to take all manner of punishment. Across the games, he's been flattened, blasted by missiles and cannonballs, burned by jet flames, DBZ level {{Wave Motion Gun}}s, planet eclipsing explosions, and more, yet he always comes [[{{Pun}} bouncing back]]. Fittingly, the US commercials for ''Kirby's Adventure'' and ''Kirby Super Star Ultra'' label him as "One Tough Creampuff" and "A Super Tough Pink Puff", respectively.
* SwissArmyHero: He has a different form for each of his Copy Abilities complete with their [[NiceHat own hat]]. In ''Epic Yarn'' and ''Rainbow Curse'', he instead has unique transformations that lets Kirby do various things in their respective games.
* SympathyForTheDevil:
** Kirby has a longstanding history of easily forgiving enemies who have decided to ease off the bad deeds. Heck, he doesn't even seem ''aware'' that King Dedede fiercely begrudges him most of the time.
** Back in ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar'', Meta Knight went ballistic and attempted to send Kirby down with the Halberd after undoing his plans to take charge of Dream Land. Nowadays, they're somewhere between rivals and friends outright.
** When Magolor returns in ''Kirby's Dream Collection'' [[spoiler:after trying to ''kill'' Kirby and friends, having manipulated them for his own ends,]] with no ill intent, it's essentially water under the bridge.
** Even after everything Susie has done, Kirby is still worried about her when she [[spoiler:gets knocked out by Star Dream]] in ''Planet Robobot''.
** Despite Marx using Kirby and wishing to rule Popstar in, then trying to get rid of Kirby as a loose end, Kirby lets him join up in ''Star Allies'' as a Dream Friend. It may have something to do with Marx's love of food and people who give it to him, according to a Pause screen blurb.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Tomatoes, especially Maxim Tomatoes which fully heal Kirby's HP. In the anime, it's watermelons instead. He's also very fond of [[IWasToldThereWouldBeCake cake]], to the point where the plots of at least [[VideoGame/KirbySqueakSquad two]] different [[VideoGame/KirbyBattleRoyale games]] have revolved around him (and Bandanna Waddle Dee, in the latter case) trying to obtain it.
* ATragedyOfImpulsiveness:
** In ''Kirby's Adventure'', this is the cause of Kirby's NiceJobBreakingItHero above.
** In the [[AlternateContinuity Subspace]] [[VideoGame/TheSubspaceEmissary Emissary]] of ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl'', at one point, he sees King Dedede with the cargo of captured heroes and gives chase, not bothering to wait for the princess accompanying him who becomes separated accidentally allowing a chance for her to be kidnapped by [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Bowser]].
* TransformationSequence: Whenever he copies an ability, although it's quicker than most examples. It's made more elaborate in the anime, as well as with the Super Abilities in ''Return to Dream Land''. A variant is for the Friend Abilities in ''Star Allies'', especially the ones that mix an element into a weapon ability.
* UnwittingPawn: Kirby's naivete makes it easy for others to play him like a fiddle:
** [[spoiler:In ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar''[='s=] Milky Way Wishes, Marx tells Kirby to use Nova to stop the sun and moon from fighting each other. Kirby gathers the energy to summon Nova, only for his wish to be stolen at the last second by Marx (who was the cause of the sun and moon's fighting in the first place).]]
** [[spoiler:In ''VideoGame/KirbysReturnToDreamLand'', Magolor tricks Kirby into defeating a dragon named Landia to obtain the Master Crown for him, Magolor wants to use it to try and take over the universe and [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Landia]] was the only thing keeping him from doing so.]]
** [[spoiler:In ''VideoGame/KirbyPlanetRobobot'', Kirby's victory over Haltmann is used by Susie as an opportunity to steal Star Dream from him, with Kirby none the wiser. That plan goes out the window when Star Dream goes rogue, however.]]
* VacuumMouth: His signature "Inhale" ability.
* VillainKiller: Even among four of these, Kirby stands out. He has fought numerous enemies and has in fact killed several of them, many times by himself. Among the monstrous foes he's fought include [[Videogame/KirbySqueakSquad evil star-shaped monsters that can possess people]], [[Videogame/KirbyStarAllies a malevolent monster that can take a form that looks like Kirby himself]], [[Videogame/KirbyCanvasCurse an evil witch that turned Kirby into a sphere and cursed the land to resemble paintings]], and [[Videogame/KirbyAndTheAmazingMirror a fiery eyeball wearing a knight's armor that wanted to conquer the mirror dimension]].
* WaddlingHead: Kirby and his species. Also a common trait of many creatures on the Planet Popstar.
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: According to a number of official sources, he's afraid of capillers, which damage him when inhaled. In the Super Star Ultra blooper reel, one falling on him while he's napping causes him to panic and faint.
* WouldHitAGirl: Kirby doesn't encounter female enemies very often, but when he does, he clearly doesn't pull any punches. Just ask Drawcia, [[spoiler:Queen Sectonia]], Susie, and the three Jambastion Mages.
* WorldsBestWarrior: He's been referred to as the greatest warrior in Popstar (with Meta Knight being the greatest in the galaxy, and Kirby being the greatest in the universe).
* YouAreWhoYouEat: Kirby takes this saying quite literally.
* YourSizeMayVary: Kirby's bio in ''Super Smash Bros.'' and his trophy in ''Melee'' claim he's 8 inches tall, but in ''Kirby 64'', he's only a few inches shorter than Adeleine, an average human girl. In ''Kirby's Dream Land 3'', he stands at a similar height compared to Ado, while also standing higher than the knees of the 6-foot-tall [[Franchise/{{Metroid}} Samus Aran]], which would put him closer to 2 or 3 feet tall. This is compounded by the fact that Kirby is larger in the Smash Bros. series than in his home game.
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''"Poyo!"''

[[folder:Kirby's Copy Abilities]]
Kirby has had a massive assortment of copy abilities over the years, each of them with several definable characteristics separate from Kirby himself. Here are the tropes relating to each ability.

* AbilityMixing: ''Squeak Squad'', ''Star Allies'', and ''64'' allowed the combination of different abilities to make new ones sharing both traits. ''Squeak Squad'' allowed you to create ElementalWeapon abilities by mixing Bomb and Sword with the ElementalPowers, ''Star Allies'' expanded upon that by making all handheld-weapon-based abilities able to be imbued with each of the 5 ElementalPowers as well as some other specific combinations (like Stone and Ice making Curling Stone), and ''64'' allowed you to combine every ability with every other ability, including being able to mix two of the same ability.
* AllWebbedUp: The Spider ability involves utilizing spider webs to attack and entrap enemies, with aspects of a TrapMaster, as lingering webs will trap enemies that touch them, leaving them vulnerable to follow-up attacks. There are also attacks to [[GrievousHarmWithABody use webbed-up enemies as weapons to attack other enemies]], along with having a guard that encases Kirby in webbing and performs a {{Counterattack}} on any enemy that touches him in this state.
* AllYourPowersCombined: The Smash ability gives Kirby access to his CompositeCharacter moveset from ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'', including [[BareFistedMonk Fighter's Vulcan Jab and Spin Kick]], [[SwordBeam Cutter's Final Cutter]], [[TakenForGranite the Stone ability]], [[DropTheHammer Hammer's regular attacks]], and [[WrestlerInAllOfUs Ninja's Air Drop]], along with a somersault and ''Smash's'' Bubble Shield guard.
* ArtAttacker: Artist allows Kirby to attack enemies with a variety of art-based abilities, similar to Adeleine, whether it's splattering enemies with paint or engaging in ArtInitiatesLife to create crude replicas of each of his allies or himself.
* ArtInitiatesLife: One of Artist's attacks involves bringing to life paintings of him, Bandana Waddle Dee, King Dedede, and Meta Knight. However, it's quite apparent that Kirby is a TerribleArtist, especially compared to Adeleine, as not only are his "art pieces" crudely done, they only last a short time before disappearing, unlike Adeleine's, which are near-perfect and last a while, especially her mount drawings that last until they take a hit.
* BareFistedMonk: The Fighter ability is dedicated to granting Kirby access to SupernaturalMartialArts, including regular martial arts techniques along with {{Shoryuken}} and KamehameHadoken attacks.
* BattleBoomerang: The Cutter ability involves attacking with the boomerang-like blade produced by the hat, with it being throwable at enemies before being caught or letting it continue flying back to hit enemies behind you, or usable in a similar way to the Sword ability by holding it and slashing at enemies, even being able to slam it to produce a SwordBeam.
* BeTheBall: The Ball ability is all about this, allowing Kirby to transform into a bouncy ball, which utilizes momentum in order to harm enemies. Abilities like Metal also have turning into a ball as an attack.
* BladeOnAStick: The Spear ability gives Kirby a sharp spear for use in combat, such as thrusting it into enemies, javelin throwing up to three spears in a row, and [[InstantFlightJustAddSpinning flying up into the air and hovering by spinning it]], [[HelicopterBlender damaging enemies that come in contact]].
* BlowYouAway:
** Tornado is an ability that turns Kirby into a raging vortex of wind while active, blitzing around in an invulnerable state while damaging all enemies he comes in contact with. As a tradeoff, however, the only attack is both shortly lived and very difficult to control.
** The Cleaning ability is a limited example, as some of its attacks involve kicking up clouds of dust that damage enemies.
** While its actual attributes are FeatherFlechettes, RazorWings, and UseYourHead, the Wing Ability is classified as doing air-elemental damage in ''Kirby Star Allies''.
* BreathWeapon: A few of Kirby's abilities have breath attacks, such as Fire, Ice, and Poison. In fact, breath attacks were the ''only'' attacks of Fire and Ice in earlier games.
* ChefOfIron: The Cook ability grants a one-use attack which sucks in enemies and defeated mid-bosses and turns them into healing food items, with ''Star Allies'' also adding a charged version that damages all enemies onscreen. Meanwhile, the anime changes it up into a proper ability, where Kirby uses a FryingPanOfDoom in order to deflect attacks, boil/fry enemies, or instantly produce food.
* DishingOutDirt: The Stone ability utilizes the creation of rock-based elemental InstantArmor for combat. While the primary application of it is [[TakenForGranite turning Kirby into a near-invulnerable stone or statue]], particularly in midair [[DeathFromAbove to crush enemies under his weight]] or sliding across the ground ramming into them, he's also capable of creating a PowerFist for use in a rocky {{Shoryuken}}.
* DeadlyDoctor: The Doctor ability is a combination of this and ScienceHero, utilizing various medical implements and some chemical concoctions in order to beat down enemies.
* DropTheHammer: The Hammer ability involves using a wooden mallet to smack down both enemies and poundable objects with immense force, to the point of producing damaging stars near the point of impact when slamming the ground. Kirby can also [[SpinAttack swing the hammer around in a circle, both horizontally on the ground and vertically in the air]], set the hammer [[IncendiaryExponent on fire]] before swinging upwards, and [[ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks perform a hammer toss]] that hits enemies at a distance, though this results in losing the ability.
* EnergyBow: The regular charged attack with Archer when charged enough will instead shoot an energy arrow, which explodes when it hits something.
* ExtraOreDinary: The Metal ability turns Kirby's entire body solid metal, making him completely invulnerable to all normal enemies, along with hurting them by CollisionDamage. As a trade-off, however, the ability makes him [[MightyGlacier incredibly slow both on land and in air]], and bosses are both immune to the CollisionDamage and able to harm Kirby, making the two properly activated attacks the only method of damage.
* EyeBeams: The Laser ability utilizes a high-tech visor to shoot beams of pure energy, hurting enemies and lighting flammable objects on fire. Its first appearance in ''Adventure'' had it work as a HandBlast instead, but all future games use the visor. ''Squeak Squad'' gave it the ability to be charged, producing a WaveMotionGun.
* FeatherFlechettes: The Wing ability's base attack involves Kirby shooting his feathers out in front of him, dealing weak damage to enemies.
* FightingClown:
** While in most games it's [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway utterly useless]], the Sleep ability gains a genuine combat-capable moveset in ''Battle Royale'', and fittingly enough it looks absolutely ridiculous. Kirby is implied to be {{Sleep|walking}} ''[[UpToEleven Fighting]]'' with this moveset, his main method of attacking is to smack people with his pillow, he's able to weaponize his SnotBubble as an exploding ranged attack, he has a ForcedSleep attack that involves invoking the normal version of Sleep on other fighters by slapping a nightcap on them, and he can {{invoke|dTrope}} RestingRecovery by staying still for a bit. All the while the ability deals some of the highest damage per attack out of the entire ability roster.
** The Cleaning ability involves making a moveset out of cleaning supplies. Its first appearance included dusters, brooms, plungers, cloths, and water buckets, while it's proper playable version sticks with brooms and water buckets, but also includes a vacuum cleaner. Its attacks include moving around and kicking up damaging dust, splashing around bucket water, utilizing the magical wind of a FlyingBroomstick, and vacuuming up Friends to shoot back out as ammo.
** The Circus ability is a near-literal example, given it's acquired from a clown-based enemy. It utilizes various circus-based implements in its attacks, such as somersaulting, fire-hoop jumping that [[ManOnFire temporarily sets Kirby himself on fire]], potentially [[IncendiaryExponent flaming]] baton juggling, trampoline acrobatics, and balloon art popping. All of which deals a decent amount of damage.
* FlyingSaucer: The UFO ability turns Kirby into one. It allows him to freely fly around without puffing up and attack enemies midair without falling, though can't use ladders while it's active. It utilizes the attacks of Beam and Laser in its arsenal, with it's laser attack being able to {{charge|dAttack}} into an increasingly stronger WaveMotionGun. It also has an electrical OrbitingParticleShield, a zigzagging TeleportSpam, and a TractorBeam.
* GreenThumb: The Leaf ability involves the use of leaves as a weapon, with all attacks giving a slight boost to his jump. He can toss some up to hit enemies in the air, spin around to create a mini cyclone before stopping to scatter the leaves all around, launch an upwards column of them, shoot a few towards the ground, and hide in a pile to become invulnerable.
* GrievousHarmWithABody: Several of the abilities have attacks that involve grabbing enemies and using them as an ImprovisedWeapon against other enemies, with the [[WrestlerInAllOfUs wrestling-focused]] abilities having a particular preference for this, since their movesets involve grabbing and throwing enemies
* HavingABlast: A number of abilities allow Kirby to rather... explosively deal with enemies:
** Bomb allows Kirby to produce an infinite number of {{Cartoon Bomb}}s, which can be thrown, rolled, or placed down, including on enemies' heads. It's somewhat unique in that the bombs can actually affect Kirby, with earlier games causing him to be damaged while later games harmlessly put him in an invulnerable daze.
** The Crash ability is a one-time use attack that creates a massive explosion that wipes out all enemies currently on the screen.
** Missile turns Kirby into a... well, missile, with the missile being controllable in order to fly it into enemies, exploding and dealing major damage.
* HornAttack: The Beetle ability is all about using it's horn in various ways to attack enemies, whether it's slashing them up, [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice skewering them before slamming or grinding them into the ground]], or [[GrievousHarmWithABody throwing the impaled bodies at other enemies]].
* AnIcePerson: Freeze and Ice are abilities that utilize chilling cold for attacking. Freeze simply creates an aura of cold that damages and freezes enemies that get close, while Ice has gained a number of attacks over the years, even assimilating Frezze as the dash attack, with other abilities being skating across the ground on literal ice skates, breathing a stream of cold air, encasing himself in solid ice, or sucking enemies up before spitting them out already frozen.
* ImprovisedWeapon: Archer's dash attack has Kirby slashing at an enemy twice using an arrow as an improvised blade.
* InstantFlightJustAddSpinning: The Whip ability has an attack that makes Kirby spin the whip around, elevating him, but unlike the Spear variation he doesn't have much control over his movement.
* LimitBreak: The Super Abilities from ''Return to Dream land'' are acquired by inhaling a "Super" version of a normal enemy, and they only last a short time before losing them, but all of them are PurposelyOverpowered upgrades to their base versions, performing {{One Hit Kill}}s on whatever they hit:
** Ultra Sword takes Kirby's already-decently-big-for-him sword and turns it into a genuine {{BFS}}, the hilt alone being as big as Kirby's entire body.
** Monster Flame takes his measly breath and fireballs and exchanges them for [[OurDragonsAreDifferent a giant fiery dragon]].
** Flare Beam takes the small and weak stream of electricity and amps it up into a massive, fully controllable ball of energy.
** Snow Bowl takes a cue from the Rolling Snowball mix ability from ''64'' and transforms Kirby into an absolute spherical [[TheJuggernaut juggernaut]] made of snow, able to plow through everything, snagging enemies along, only stopping either by choice or from hitting a solid wall.
** Grand Hammer takes the crushing power of regular Hammer and makes it where every use of it causes world-shaking tremors.
* MagicMirror: The Mirror ability is all about utilizing mirrors and their properties in various ways, such as shooting out mirror projectiles, acting as an AttackReflector, or splitting into multiple mirror images.
* MakeMeWannaShout: The Mike ability is all about taking Kirby's DreadfulMusician skills and turning them into a deadly attack, with it being a three-use ability that instantly kills all enemies currently oncreen and greatly damages bosses.
* MakeSomeNoise: The Bell ability involves [[ForDoomTheBellTolls using the soundwaves produced by ringing bells]] to attack enemies. While it usually involves Kirby shaking the bells, he can also slam them onto the ground or quickly spin around to amplify the sound, fling them behind him so that they bounce around, perform a ChargedAttack that shoots out bell-shaped projectiles, or enlarge his head-bell and perform a sound-emitting {{Counterattack}} on any enemy that attacks him.
* MakingASplash:
** The Water ability gives Kirby various attacks revolving around water, such as spitting a glob of it at enemies, summoning a wave to surf on, or hovering with a downward waterjet. It also enhances his regular underwater Water Gun attack.
** The Bubble ability is a limited example, utilizing a bubble wand to produce a stream of bubbles, with the express purpose of creating Bubble items for use in ''Squeak Squad'''s Copy Palette game mechanic.
* MasterSwordsman: The Sword ability grants Kirby a sword that he can use to cut enemies in various ways, such as slashing multiple times, performing stabbing thrusts, shooting {{Sword Beam}}s, or engaging in {{Spin Attack}}s.
* {{Multishot}}: Archer's leaping air attack shoots three arrows diagonally down in front of Kirby, with the extra arrows dealing less damage.
* {{Ninja}}: The Ninja ability grants access to the stealthy powers of ''ninjutsu'', including the StockNinjaWeaponry of kunai, shuriken, and a katana, a few FlashStep attacks with the katana, a WallJump, a ReedSnorkel to shoot bubbles upward on water surface, a [[SmokeOut smokescreen]] to hurt and hide from enemeies, a DopplegangerSpin that creates an explosion as a {{Counterattack}}, and a PaperFanOfDoom that conjures up CherryBlossoms.
* NoArcInArchery: Downplayed with the Archer ability, as a regular shot will arc after a short distance, but charged shots will go in a completely straight line. Same goes for the Cupid ability.
* OurGhostsAreDifferent: The Ghost ability makes it where Kirby can float around freely without needing to puff up and make himself vulnerable. In its initial appearance, its only means of attack involved pulling a GrandTheftMe on enemies, using their bodies to attack for it, and it also prevented players from using ladders, requiring the loss of it to progress at times. It later shows up in ''Kirby Fighter'', where, when enabled, defeated fighters turn into Ghost Kirby, and it's given a proper moveset, being able to smack and headbutt living players for minor damage and become intangible to avoid damage, along with reviving back into regular Kirby if he restores his health.
* PaperThinDisguise: The Archer ability's Camouflage skill involves Kirby hiding behind an obviously crayon-colored and conspicuous cardboard piece of camouflage, but not only does it actually work at preventing enemies from noticing him, it makes him completely untouchable while active, meaning the enemies don't even think to try poking it out of passing curiosity.
* ParasolOfPain: The Parasol ability grants Kirby a red-and-white parasol for use in combat. In addition to slowing down his fall and passively guarding against attacks and enemies from above, he can also smack, stab, or drill through enemies, thrust it forward to act as a forward-facing shield, bounce enemies on top before [[GrievousHarmWithABody hurling them at other enemies]], and twirl it underneath him to become an invulnerable spin-top of death.
* PlayingWithFire: Fire and Burning are abilities that utilize flames for attacking. Burning was simply a UseYourHead attack, while Fire has acquired a number of uses over time, including assimilating Burning, with other attacks being fiery breath, engulfing Kirby in flames for various uses, or spinning around while producing a spiral of flames, which leads into becoming a rolling ball of fire that can ride up walls.
* PoisonousPerson: The Poison ability functions very similarly to the Water ability, with the biggest difference being the DamageOverTime aspect of every attack, along with a few extra attacks that create temporary obstacles, like clouds or puddles, that constantly damage enemies that touch them while they last.
* PowerCopying: [[ShapedLikeItself Copy is a Copy Ability that copies abilities]]... Ahem, Copy is a somewhat redundant ability that uses an EnemyScan in order to analyze an enemy and gain its power without swallowing them. While most of the time it's rather pointless, there are some situations where it is quite beneficial:
** In the Milky Way Wishes mode of ''Super Star'' and ''Super Star Ultra'', the fact inhaling enemies doesn't provide Copy Abilities, only Copy Essences Deluxe, means the Copy version is incredibly useful to find and collect, since its Scan ability lets you copy enemies normally.
** ''Super Star'' and ''Super Star Ultra'' in general have the ability to sacrifice the Copy ability in order to create a Tac, which another player can control in co-op. This allows the second player to also copy abilities, which fully heals them when they do so, along with gaining a completely invulnerable guard move, and also dealing damage to enemies regardless of whether their Steal attack copies an ability or not.
* PsychicPowers: The ESP ability is all about using the powers of the mind to mentally manipulate [[ShockAndAwe electricity]] in order to attack enemies, with greater level of control than the other electrical powers due to being able to manually choose where and how the psycho-electric energy will move.
* RainOfArrows: An upwards aimed charged attack with the Archer ability will also release a shower of arrows on both sides of Kirby, damaging any enemies close enough.
* RazorWings: A downplayed example with Wing's Hover Flap and Beetle's Hover Wing, which do minor damage to enemies that the wings touch with each flap.
* RestingRecovery: While the majority of games have Sleep do nothing but instantly fall asleep until it wears off, some of those games at least have it constantly restore health while it's active.
* RocketPoweredWeapon: The Jet ability involves the use of a JetPack in order to attack in a variety of fiery launching ways. He gets a ChargedAttack that can be fired straight away or stored for later use, is capable of using WeaponizedExhaust, can perform an aerial DivingKick, and can use the charged power to do a RocketJump.
* RollingAttack: The entire point of the Wheel ability is turning Kirby into a speeding invincible tire of death and destruction. So long as it's active Kirby will phase through all attacks while decently damaging enemies, and unlike other abilities where the invincible attack lasts a short time before having to be re-activated, Wheel will stay active until it either is deactivated or hits a wall.
* ShockAndAwe: There have been some abilities that utilize electricity in order to damage enemies:
** Beam involves producing spherical energy balls and forming them into various attacks to zap enemies. These include [[WhipItGood a wall passing whip]], a rotating conical blast, a downward diagonal thrust, a midair SpinAttack, a WaveMotionGun attack, and capturing an enemy in an electrical field that can [[GrievousHarmWithABody be shot at other enemies with a blast of electricity]].
** Plasma and Spark involve generating electricity from Kirby's body. Plasma mostly deals with projectiles while Spark deals with producing a deadly aura, but both of them are capable of some form of ChargeAttack that generates extra electricity in order to do more damage.
** ESP produces electrifying attacks by way of PsychicPowers, whether it's creating a ball of controllable psychic energy or vanishing by turning into psychic energy.
* SimpleStaff: The Staff ability gives Kirby an extendable staff to pummel enemies with, whether it's with powerful jabs, twirling it around to repeatedly smack with, or using it as a polevault to get over enemies heads before stabbing into them from above.
* TheSpiny: The Needle ability is the rare example of a player power counting for this. While having it active, Kirby is NighInvulnerable to CollisionDamage while dealing the same to enemies instead due to being coated in sharp spikes. Other moves include a SpikeShooter, a spiky RollingAttack, and an upward aimed [[ThisIsADrill drill attack]].
* StageMagician: The Magic ability utilizes various forms of magic tricks as attacks by summoning them from its hat. Initially it was simply a one-use RandomEffectSpell, but it's next appearance gives it a proper moveset, where in addition to the RandomEffectSpell, it summons vanishing doves, [[DeathDealer throws sharp cards]], and can produce a giant crushing clown head.
* SuperSpit: Some abilities give Kirby a variant of his Star Spit, whether it's after inhaling an enemy or a regular attack, such as Ice's ice cube ejection, Water's various ranged attacks, or Poison's puddle-forming ball.
* TunnelKing: The Animal ability grants Kirby mole-like digging powers, which also comes with sharp WolverineClaws that can be used to either slash at or perform a heavily damaging pounce on enemies. An ability upgrade also allows it to [[ThisIsADrill spin like a drill]], speedily tunneling through diggable ground while also obliterating any enemies in Kirby's path.
* UseYourHead: There have been several abilities where slamming Kirby's WaddlingHead body into enemies was a major attack:
** This was the ''only'' attack of the Burning ability, turning Kirby into a raging fireball and launching him in a chosen direction. Later games composited it into Fire's moveset, turning it into the dash attack.
** High-Jump also has this as its only means of damage, with each of its attacks involving launching Kirby either up in the air or down to the ground, ramming into enemies.
** The majority of Wing's attacks involve dashing into enemies headfirst, using the wings to produce and maintain momentum.
** One of Jet's attacks involves ramming headfirst into enemies, with how much Kirby charged before attacking determining how much damage is done.
* WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway: The Sleep ability in most games is not only completely useless, it often acts as an outright PoisonMushroom at times, having Copy Essences placed in locations solely to add some challenge to levels where precise movement is needed, as it leaves Kirby completely vulnerable to enemy attacks. Later games at least add the option of forcing Kirby awake earlier, with the added benefit of damaging enemies when the SnotBubble pops.
* WhipItGood:
** The Beam ability produces a whip made of [[ShockAndAwe electricity]] as its main attack that, while weak, is capable of hitting through walls and deals constant damage while in contact with an enemy.
** The Whip ability gives Kirby a coiled whip that allows him to attack and grab enemies from a more decent distance away than most melee abilities and attacks. It primarily involves being cracked in the direction of enemies, with it able to be cracked several times in a very quick flurry of strikes, but can also whip up a small tornado that launches Kirby into the air while grabbing any nearby enemies and slam around grabbed enemies.
* WrestlerInAllOfUs: Several of the abilities have utilized wrestling moves in their movesets, up to abilities like Backdrop and Suplex being mostly wrestling moves. This reached its absolute pinnacle with the aptly named Wrestler ability, which has every one of its attacks be a legitimate wrestling move.

[[folder:King Dedede]]
!King Dedede
!!!'''Debut:''' ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand''
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/MasahiroSakurai (''Kirby 64'' and ''Super Smash Bros.''), Shinya Kumazaki (''Return to Dream Land'', ''Triple Deluxe'', ''Star Allies'')
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kf2_king_dedede_8.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click to see Masked Dedede]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kssu_masked_dedede_artwork.png[[/labelnote]]]]

-> ''"[[VideoGame/KirbysEpicYarn You can't be mean to my Waddle Dees!]] [[HypocriticalHeartwarming Only I can be mean to my Waddle Dees!]]"''

Hammer-wielding penguin ([[AmbiguousSpecies possibly]]) and self-proclaimed ruler of Dream Land, though he never really does anything related to administration. Usually ends up as the villain through {{Greed}} or DemonicPossession.
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* AbsenteeActor:
** He's completely absent in ''VideoGame/KirbyAndTheAmazingMirror'', not even as a cameo.
** In ''VideoGame/TeamKirbyClashDeluxe'' and ''VideoGame/SuperKirbyClash'', no mention is ever given to him; however, [[spoiler:the TrueFinalBoss is a variant of him called King D-Mind]].
* {{Acrofatic}}: Depending on the game, he can be pretty agile despite his size.
* ActuallyADoombot: The first encounter with him and Meta Knight in ''Kirby Fighters 2'' turns out to be a pair of Waddle Dees in disguise.
* ADayInTheLimelight: ''Triple Deluxe'' is where he gets quite some spotlight despite not being the villain. He gets kidnapped in the opening and becomes Kirby's motivation for the game. [[spoiler:He then gets BrainwashedAndCrazy and is fought as a ClimaxBoss. After Kirby BeatTheCurseOutOfHim, Dedede then helps Kirby reach Sectonia's OneWingedAngel form and then releases Kirby from Sectonia's clutch to save him. The final narration even notes Dedede's contribution to the whole story as it notes that the Dreamstalk (which, despite the People of the Sky expecting Kirby as their hero, lifts Dedede's castle as well as Kirby's house) works InMysteriousWays.]] He even gets his own extra mode, something that Meta Knight had done twice before.
* AdiposeRex: You would be hard-pressed to find a fatter individual in Dream Land, and none of them are claiming to be royalty either.
* AffablyEvil: He's not really that bad a guy, he's just vain, extremely greedy, and occasionally mean-spirited. Of course, that doesn't mean he's not affable -- in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl'', he hugs Kirby towards the end of The Subspace Emissary when he realizes he's alright.
* AmbiguousSpecies: He definitely looks like a penguin, but it's questionable if he's even a ''bird''. Unlike a penguin, he can fly, doesn't appear to have feathers, and his feet being attached to his body seemingly without legs may be because of art style more than anything. One official guide calls him a "regal eagle", but likely wasn't meant to be taken literally. As far as we know he's a [[ShapedLikeItself Dedede]].
* AnAxeToGrind: In ''Triple Deluxe'', his hammer winds up being broken [[spoiler:during a fight with Kirby when Taranza's using him as a puppet]], so he rips a battle-axe taller than he is off a nearby statue and showcases that he's every bit as proficient with it as he is with his hammer.
* AnotherSideAnotherStory: He gets his own "extra mode" run in form of Dededetour! in ''Triple Deluxe''. He's described as going on his own adventure to stop [[spoiler:Queen Sectonia and her rule]] (and either stop [[spoiler:her from ruling Dream Land]], or try to take over Floralia as part of his territory).
* AntiHero: He's more commonly this than an outright villain. He's selfish, greedy, and tends not to hesitate when it comes to clobbering Kirby when their interests don't align, but he's never really gotten to the point of being ''evil''. As far back as ''Kirby's Adventure'', Dedede's been proactively defending Dream Land from much worse threats (when he's not being possessed by them) in his own unscrupulous ways, and more modern games seem to forgo Dedede's animosity with Kirby entirely in favor of portraying him as one of Kirby's TrueCompanions.
* AntiVillain: In ''Kirby's Adventure'', ''Dream Land 2'', and ''Dream Land 3''.
* ArchEnemy: Most likely due to longevity. He is not Kirby's ''worst'' enemy, but he is the most common.
* TheAtoner: His Guest Star description in ''Star Allies'' mentions that he goes on a journey to save his people and to clean his name (presumably after being BrainwashedAndCrazy).
* ArtEvolution: His design has changed quite a bit over the years, but the 3D games in particular seem to update his design with each new console generation. ''Return To Dream Land's'' design was basically a 3D version of his old design from the GBA and DS games, his ''Triple Deluxe'' and ''Planet Robobot'' designs changed his facial structure with a differently-shaped beak and his eyes being further apart, and ''Star Allies'' changes his face again to be more expressive while modifying his proportions to resemble his appearance in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros''
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: He may be [[AuthorityInNameOnly a self-proclaimed king]], but a good deal of games demonstrate he's not afraid to [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething show off just what he can do]], be it [[AntiVillain fighting against Kirby]] or [[AntiHero defending Dream Land]]. Especially seen in ''Triple Deluxe''[='=]s [[BonusDungeon Dededetour]] where he defeats [[spoiler:Queen Sectonia DX (a more powerful version of the original); Shadow Dedede (a dark doppelganger made by the Dimensional Mirror); and Dark Meta Knight -- (who defeated Meta Knight on his own but is now powered by the Dimensional Mirror with a plentiful supply of new abilities).]] '''ALL IN A ROW. ''BY HIMSELF.'''''
* AuthorityInNameOnly: Besides his soldiers and servants, no one respects his rule. Not even his "friends", since Meta Knight tried to overthrow him in ''Revenge of Meta Knight'', while Whispy Woods and Kracko show no qualms in attacking the king in ''Return to Dream Land'' and ''Triple Deluxe'', respectively. In fact, officially he has no actual power and his edicts go unheeded by the people of Dream Land. Also implied to be the case in the anime. However, CharacterDevelopment as a result of being possessed and beaten repeately has made him decide to get stronger and attempt to improve his reputation, so that maybe the people of Dream Land will eventually start treating him like a real leader.
* BadassBaritone: In games where he is voiced, Dedede is liable to have a bellowing, kingly voice. It's greatly emphasized by his tendency to [[RoarBeforeBeating roar]], and he indeed has the strength to back it up.
* BadassInDistress: In ''Triple Deluxe'', Kirby's mission is to save him.
* BeatTheCurseOutOfHim: [[VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand2 Whenever]] [[VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand3 he]] [[VideoGame/Kirby64TheCrystalShards gets]] [[VideoGame/KirbyStarAllies possessed]], this is usually how he's saved.
* BecomingTheMask: Despite the AuthorityInNameOnly status as listed above, and Dedede largely initially just claiming kingship as an excuse to do whatever he wants, he's actually surprisingly dedicated to the role of King in multiple series entries, even having shown signs as early as ''Adventure'' in making the [[IDidWhatIHadToDo hard choice]] of breaking up the Star Rod to protect Dream Land. His other feats in the name of acting as King include diplomatically aiding both Ribbon and Magolor of other worlds when they ended up stranded on Popstar, aiding the Floralians and later acting to free them of his own accord, and even his Guest Star mode in ''Star Allies'' is Dedede attempting to prove that he can protect his kingdom. Such actions might well be part of the reason why nobody has actually contested his claim of kingship and just sort of let him retain it.
* BewareTheSillyOnes: He may appear goofy and serve as PluckyComicRelief from time to time, but underestimate him at your own will; for as his skill with the [[DropTheHammer hammer]] (which he wields almost flawlessly) is enough to show why he should be respected as the ([[AuthorityInNameOnly self-proclaimed]]) [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething king of Dream Land]].
* BigBad: Of the original game, Spring Breeze in ''Kirby Super Star'', and Revenge of the King in ''Ultra''. Also is the villain in most spinoffs such as ''Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble'', ''Kirby's Dream Course'', '' Kirby's Super Star Stacker'', ''Kirby Fighters Deluxe'', ''VideoGame/KirbysBlowoutBlast'' and [[spoiler:''Videogame/KirbyBattleRoyale''. Appears to be the BigBad of several other games as well, but actually isn't, for various reasons.]]
* BigBadDuumvirate: He and Meta Knight team up to take down Kirby in the story mode of ''Kirby Fighters 2''.
* BigEater: Not shown doing this as often as Kirby (due to not being the focal point of the series), but Dedede can pack it away as much as his [[FriendlyEnemy friend/foe]]. There's a reason that the plot of the very first game kicked off with Dedede stealing all of Dream Land's food, and the same reason is why he's Kirby's opponent in Gourmet Race.
* BigFun: When he's not doing something bad, anyway.
* BigGood: [[spoiler:Believe it or not, of ''VideoGame/TheSubspaceEmissary'' - had it not been for his reviving brooches, Tabuu [[TheBadGuyWins would've won]]. In fact, if that game was your introduction to his character, you'd be forgiven for assuming that he was one of Kirby's biggest allies, considering how friendly he acts towards him]].
* BlackHoleBelly: Dedede's range and power for his VacuumMouth is even greater than Kirby's, and he'll even demonstrate it by inhaling Kirby if given the chance.
* BossSubtitles: "His Royal Nemesis, King Dedede" in ''Kirby Star Allies''.
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: So, so often, usually by DemonicPossession.
** [[VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand2 By]] [[VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand3 Dark]] [[VideoGame/Kirby64TheCrystalShards Matter]], complete with BellyMouth and EyesDoNotBelongThere. Also [[VideoGame/KirbyMassAttack Necrodeus]] (presumably).
** In ''Epic Yarn'', he gets turned into yarn and is forced to fight Kirby with [[PeoplePuppets marionette-like strings on his body]], courtesy of Yin-Yarn. [[spoiler:The marionette strings part is also done by [[VideoGame/KirbyTripleDeluxe Taranza]] in his game's climax.]]
** Happens again in ''Star Allies'', this time with the added side effect of making him absurdly muscular. After you BeatTheCurseOutOfHim, you can add him to your team in the Dream Palace or by throwing a Friend Heart at him.
* BurningWithAnger: Occasionally in ''Kirby's Dream Land 2'', he will go into a rage that will make his next attack highly explosive.
* ButtMonkey: If it's not happening to Kirby, it's happening to Dedede.
* TheCaligula: He's a pretty selfish, greedy, and gluttonous king who acts entirely on his whims. He's also a JerkWithAHeartOfGold, however, and can at times [[PetTheDog be pretty nice]]. And he does care for his kingdom, which shows whenever it gets threatened.
* CantCatchUp: He learned to duplicate Kirby's flight after his first defeat, while Kirby learned to run as fast as Dedede ''and'' copy powers.
* CartoonCreature: It's not clear what he's supposed to be, but some elements of his design seem to indicate he's a penguin.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: From being a BigBad in the very first game, to a [[spoiler:WellIntentionedExtremist]] in ''Adventure'', to a reluctant ally in ''Crystal Shards'', to become an outright good guy in ''Return to Dream Land'' onwards. Inbetween, though, he might sometimes get BrainwashedAndCrazy or [[DemonicPossession possessed]], or be the major antagonist in the spinoffs, showing the "enemy" part of his relationship with Kirby. It's pretty telling that when he (once again) steals all the food in Dream Land at the start of ''Star Allies'', it's noted that this is ''horribly'' out of character for him, [[DramaticIrony despite the fact that]] [[VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand this was his first ever scheme.]]
* CharlesAtlasSuperpower: According to his trophy information in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosMelee'', he underwent training to learn how to inhale air to float like Kirby after his first defeat. As we can see, the training paid off.
* CoolMask: He dons an intimidating mask as Masked Dedede, and he usually goes all out in the battles where he's wearing it.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: He's a greedy, gluttonous bumbler who seemingly exists to either take the blame for what another villain has done or be possessed by them. He is also at the same time one of the most powerful individuals in Dream Land, a fighter on the same level as Kirby and Meta Knight, and actually ''incredibly'' clever when the situation calls for it.
* DemotedToExtra:
** He only appears as a clay sculpture and a doodle (in Elline's diary) in ''Rainbow Curse'' (and Kirby can wear his hat with a Dedede amiibo), having no appearance in the game's story.
** In ''Planet Robobot'', he only makes an appearance in the intro and the ending, as well as a set of stickers. [[spoiler:However, clones of his DNA appear as a boss battle]].
* DiscOneFinalBoss: in ''Kirby's Adventure'' and ''Kirby's Dream Land 2'' and ''3''.
* DistressedDude: In ''Triple Deluxe'', he gets kidnapped by the spider mage Taranza for an unknown reason.
* DropTheHammer: [[WeaponOfChoice Rarely seen without it.]]
* DualBoss: He finally fights alongside Meta Knight in ''Kirby Fighters 2'', complete with new team attacks that they perform together.
* EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference: Dedede's torso and abdomen was colored fully blue just like his head in earlier games, and he didn't wear gloves. ''Kirby Super Star'' was the first game to give him gloves and a cream-colored body as opposed to a blue one. Despite this, he still retained his old look in ''Dream Land 2'', ''Dream Land 3'', ''Kirby 64'', and even the anime. It wasn't until ''Nightmare in Dream Land'' where he would permanently keep his ''Super Star'' design. (However, his blue-bodied design does show up occasionally, such as his figurine in ''Kirby and the Rainbow Curse'' and his artwork for ''Play Nintendo''). ''Star Allies'' shows that his cream colored body is really a shirt or a vest, akin to how he looks in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' (where he wears a yellow yukata as undershirt), implying that his outfit was simply updated over time.
* EnergyBall: [[spoiler:Masked Dedede's Revenge, as well as Shadow Dedede, can shoot these from their axe.]] Star Rod-Hammer Dedede uses the power of Star Rod to make his hammer shoot balls of light. [[spoiler:Dedede Clone can also utilize it.]]
* ErmineCapeEffect: Whether or not he's a king, he looks quite the part - with a NiceHat, gloves, a fancy red coat and the belly band-like sash.
* EverythingsBetterWithPenguins: Maybe. He looks an awful lot like one, but is never actually stated to be one (a fact that's lampshaded in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl'' during [[VideoGame/MetalGear Snake]]'s codec conversation about him).
* EvilCounterpart: To Kirby, being a VillainousGlutton. Later appearances emphasized this by giving Dedede aerial abilities. [[spoiler:Shadow Dedede]] serves as one to him in ''Triple Deluxe''.
* EvilKnockoff: In ''Planet Robobot'', [[spoiler:the Haltmann Works Company use a sample of his DNA to create a series of Dedede Clones.]]
* ExtremeOmnivore: At least in the ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' series, where he'll eat almost any item in the games if you make him inhale it.
* FaceFault: An unusual, but just as goofy example, as it's one of Dedede's signature attacks. Akin to a penguin sliding on its belly, he often dashes forward, trips, and skids face-first across the ground. Surprisingly, up until ''Star Allies'', it was completely absent from his moveset as a player character.
* FatalFlaw: Greed, though he's [[CharacterizationMarchesOn mellowed out considerably in recent years]]. ''Star Allies'' implies he still has some greedy tendencies, as the Jamba Heart (which [[TheCorruption exaggerates a person's worst qualities]]) causes him to [[CallBack (once again)]] steal all of Dream Land's food. He's just learned to keep his behavior in check.
* FatBastard: He has stolen ''all'' the food in Dream Land, twice. Though he is fat because he is a greedy over-eater, as of ''Kirby's Adventure'' he trained to duplicate Kirby's flight, so he must eat enough to stay fat despite his work.
* AFatherToHisMen: He seems to actually care very much about his Waddle Dees.
* FinalBoss: In the original ''Kirby's Dream Land''. He also sometimes assumes this role in the spinoff games.
* FlyingFlightlessBird: Just like Kirby, he can fly by sucking up air, despite the fact that he is (possibly) a penguin.
* FunWithAcronyms: Interestingly played with in regards to his name. [[spoiler:In ''Planet Robobot'' Japanese version, in the 5th world's boss stage, Susie is talking about the "product" that she'll show Kirby; she described it - [[GratuitousEnglish in English]] - as "Dangerous", "Deadly" and "Deluxe". Then she reveals it to be the Dedede Clone. And when you beat the clones in the second phase (with the D3 Cannon), said clones explode, each forming the letter "D" in sparkles.]]
* GadgeteerGenius: He's prone to occasionally employ technology for his ends, from rocket launchers to HumongousMecha.
* GoKartingWithBowser: This is pretty much what Gourmet Race is.
* TheGoodKing: Downplayed. Greedy face-stuffer that he is, he's been known to occasionally try his hand at a noble action or two, usually helping Kirby out with his abilities or so. He's especially protective of "his" Dream Land despite robbing its people of their food at least twice. It's also noted that his Waddle Dee subjects are quite fond of him, and deep down he loves them as well.
* HalfDressedCartoonAnimal: His early design only had him wearing a robe and sash on his body. His later design would give him a [[BarefootCartoonAnimal cream colored yakuta]], which is made a lot more apparent in ''Star Allies''.
* HarmlessVillain: Dedede's not really bad ([[AlternateUniverse except in the anime]]), he's just big and greedy so Kirby has to bring him down to earth. In fact, he's been known to give Kirby giant hugs.
* HeelFaceTurn: ''Kirby's Super Star Ultra'' marked a permanent change in the status quo (an incredibly unusual thing for a series so light on continuity) by finally ending Kirby's rivalry with Dedede ([[FriendlyRivalry at least the genuinely hostile aspects of it]]) and changing them from "enemies" (and occasionally [[EnemyMine reluctant allies]] as in ''Kirby 64'') to "friends". ''Return of the King'' is the final game in which Dedede plays the role of an antagonist knowingly and cognizantly; after his defeat here, from ''Return to Dream Land'' onward Dedede has abandoned virtually all reluctance or hostility with Kirby and was thrust into the spotlight as one of the main protagonists in his own right.
* HiddenDepths: [[VideoGame/KirbyPlanetRobobot Apparently, he's into]] TabletopGame/{{chess}}.
* HulkingOut: ''Star Allies'' has Dedede's corruption turn him into a gorilla-like creature, complete with barrel chest and big, musclebound arms ([[TopHeavyGuy and with his legs still small]]). He throws food and climbs the columns of his castle like a gorilla as well. It's a reference to one of the anime's episodes.
* HypocriticalHeartwarming: In ''VideoGame/KirbysEpicYarn'', he sees a group of Yarn Waddle Dees having tied up his own Waddle Dees. He then proclaims that only he can be mean to his Waddle Dees.
* ImpossiblyCoolWeapon: In ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'', his hammer has a '''[[RocketPoweredWeapon jet engine]]''' for the sole purpose of swinging extremely strong hits. In "Revenge of the King" in ''Kirby Super Star Ultra'', Masked Dedede has an even cooler new hammer. Aside from also having the jet engine, it can [[MacrossMissileMassacre launch missiles]], [[FireBreathingWeapon shoot a gout of flame]], and be used for an extreme SpinAttack.
* InterfaceScrew: He in ''Kirby Fighters Deluxe'' can throw out Dedede keychains towards the screen to obscure it.
* {{Jerkass}}: In the spinoffs and the anime. Also in the original game, one of the few games in which he's not a good guy, [[BrainwashedAndCrazy possessed]] or a WellIntentionedExtremist. He just steals everyone's food for no real reason, apparently, as he's never shown eating it. Okay, he is on the second time around in ''Super Star''.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold:
** In ''Kirby 64'', he's still a jerk but ultimately means well.
** Same thing in ''Kirby's Adventure'', where the only reason he was opposing Kirby was to protect Dream Land from [[spoiler:Nightmare]], who was still sealed in the fountain.
* JigglePhysics: {{Played for laughs}} in the trailer for Kirby's 20th anniversary. After making the jump to the 3rd dimension, Dedede strikes a pose with Kirby and Meta Knight, and notices that his belly jiggles; he then proceeds to look at his stomach crossly, and poke it with the haft of his hammer.
* {{Leitmotif}}:
** The Mt. Dedede theme from ''Kirby's Dream Land'' was eventually [[BootstrappedTheme Bootstrapped]] into his personal music by ''Super Star'', and has since been used as such by nearly every game since.[[note]]It fails to appear in ''Avalanche'' and ''The Crystal Shards'', and is instead used as the miniboss tower theme in ''Adventure''.[[/note]]
** The popular "Gourmet Race" theme from ''Super Star'' got re-orchestrated for ''Nightmare in Dream Land'' into his Boss theme when they duel at the Fountain of Dreams.
* LargeAndInCharge: He is not the largest creature in Dream Land (his larger friend, Whispy Woods, is a frequent sight), but he is larger than most of his army and the rest of the creatures he claims to rule over.
* LeftStuckAfterAttack: In ''Star Allies'', when he does his falling smash attack with his enlarged arms, he may sometimes get his arms stuck on the ground, leaving him open to attack.
* LetsGetDangerous: As Masked Dedede, he tends to be far more serious (and [[ThatOneBoss difficult]]) than when he's just regular Dedede. This also extends [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ju-00VrNvE&ab_channel=SuperRayman001 to his boss theme]], which is a faster paced and more intense remix of his normal boss theme.
* LovableJock: Despite being selfish, greedy, and above all gluttonous, he's not really such a bad guy deep down. He's also [[{{Acrofatic}} surprisingly athletic despite his girth]] as indicated by the Snack Tracks race and his boxing match like fight with Kirby in Revenge Of The King.
* MagicVersusScience: Downplayed. By and large, King Dedede has a specific preference for technological enhancements and weaponry, even as far back as his missile launcher from ''Block Ball'' and his HumongousMecha Robo Dedede in ''Dream Course'' [[spoiler:and Dededestroyer Z in ''Battle Royale'']]. Usually he only uses magic or magic-like abilities when under the influence of DemonicPossession; he has, however, used a power-up from the Fountain of Dreams in ''Fighters Deluxe''.
* MakeMyMonsterGrow: Makes himself somewhat larger in ''Kirby Fighters Deluxe'' upon defeating his Combo Dedede backup. Then in ''Kirby's Blowout Blast'' he goes full-on AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever with the power of the Sparkling Star.
* MaskPower:
** ''Kirby Super Star Ultra'' features the unlockable "Revenge of the King" segment, which is a Hard Mode-style rerun of "Spring Breeze" (remember how ''Kirby's Dream Land'' had a Hard Mode?). King Dedede has clearly taken a leaf out of Meta Knight's book for the occasion, going so far as to give himself a steel mask that obscures everything except his eyes. He's a '''lot''' harder than he was before.
** [[spoiler:This form of Dedede makes a return in ''Triple Deluxe'', and has been improved even further]].
** He can don the mask in ''Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe'', though all it does is add a sound effect during backbeat combos.
** [[spoiler:Then in ''Kirby's Blowout Blast'', he combines the mask with MakeMyMonsterGrow in the Secret Path final boss, becoming Giant Masked Dedede. Here, the mask actually helps him protecting his face from weak star shots; Kirby has to inhale a lot of stars at once to actually hurt him.]]
** In ''Battle Royale'' it's also one of the unlockable costumes.
** He also puts it on for his Final Smash in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate''.
** [[spoiler:''Kirby Fighters 2'' gives him a new mask with a lunar motif known as the "Mask of Dark Bonds", which he wears with Meta Knight to increase their power together.]]
* MoralityPet: While he can be pretty mean at times, he genuinely cares for his Waddle Dees, who adore him in kind.
* MouthyBird: [[ZigzaggedTrope Zigzagged]]. Averted the earliest games where he was shown almost exclusively from the side which emphasized his relatively normal and unmouth-like beak. Once ArtEvolution kicked in, he started being shown more from the front, which made him fall into a type 2, right down to having [[ToothyBird teeth]] in some depictions, particularly the anime. Currently it's [[DownplayedTrope downplayed]] with his current 3D model which, while still plenty expressive, is stiffer and longer, making it generally more evocative of his early more bird-like beak.
* NoPronunciationGuide: Is it "dee-dee-dee" or "day-day-day"? Seems to depend mostly on region. Most English-speaking territories use the former; Japan as well as Italian-, French-, and Spanish-speaking countries use the latter. It seems both are correct, because the announcer of ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl'' pronounces his name ''both'' ways depending on your game's region. Additionally, if the crowd begins chanting his name, they'll alternate between the pronunciations.
* NotMeThisTime: After [[EstablishingCharacterMoment stealing all the food in Dream Land]] and then taking a bath in the sacred Fountain of Dreams, Kirby tends to view Dedede with suspicion. Predictably, games after that (with few exceptions) never show him being the actual villain. In fact, when he pulls one of his old schemes at the start of ''Star Allies'', the pause screen descriptions imply that Kirby is ''confused'' by this, meaning it's gotten to the point where Dedede isn't even considered a villain by Kirby anymore.
* OhCrap: His reaction when things go wrong. Like when Kirby shows up to rescue the trophies in the ''Subspace Emissary'' [[spoiler:or when Kirby accidentally awakens Nightmare.]]
* PenguinsAreDucks: He is implied to be a penguin, yet he resembles a duck more due to his feet, his beak being rounded (although they do resemble lips sometimes, as mentioned above), and as mentioned above, he can fly by inhaling enough air.
* PokeThePoodle: Any genuine villainy he performs always ends up being this. He's always more of a nuisance than an actual threat to Dream Land.
* PowerupMount: Plays this role for his sections in ''Kirby 64'', as well as ''Return to Dream Land'' (the other playable characters can also serve as this in said game); with his brute strength and hammer, Dedede can bust down walls for Kirby.
* PowersViaPossession: Dedede's repeated possessions during the Dark Matter trilogy featured his body exhibiting strange abilities like floating through the air like a dangled puppet, shooting dark {{Energy Ball}}s from an eye that popped out of his stomach, or developing a ravenous BellyMouth. [[spoiler:Shadow Dedede of ''Triple Deluxe'' has these same powers but developed to a much more advanced degree. The game's commentary about the "darkness in his heart" could be an implication that Shadow Dedede was possessed by an alternate version of Dark Matter (implied to be Dark Mind) for ''far'' too long]].
* PreFinalBoss:
** King Dedede himself appears as the DiscOneFinalBoss of ''VideoGame/KirbysAdventure'', ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand2'' and ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand3''. In the first game, he turns out to be the DiscOneFinalBoss who actually tried to prevent the ''real'' BigBad, the Nightmare, from corrupting the Fountain of Dreams, while in the latter two games he's the victim of the DemonicPossession via Dark Matter (however, if the player did not [[GottaCatchThemAll collect all pieces]] of the game's respective [[EleventhHourSuperpower final weapons]] (Rainbow Drops in ''2'', Heart Stars in ''3''), he will end up being the game's FinalBoss, with the bad ending playing).
** [[spoiler:In ''Triple Deluxe'' he's fought as Masked Dedede while being controlled by Taranza before Queen Sectonia is fought.]]
* RecurringBossTemplate: Whenever he doesn't appear as a boss (and/or he's playable), there'll usually be another boss made in his likeness, namely [[spoiler:Shadow Dedede, Dedede Clone, King D-Mind, and]] Parallel Dedede.
* RedemptionDemotion:
** Downplayed. As of ''Return to Dream Land'', King Dedede's fully playable self utilizes a modified version of the Hammer Copy Ability, as opposed to any of the attacks he's usually seen using. He does, at least, have a few extra tricks: he can freely spam his Hammer Throw (although the damage is lessened), and in ''Triple Deluxe'' he can launch a slicing beam out of his hammer as a ranged attack to cut ropes.
** Though Star Allies got rid of the beam, wind on his spinning attacks, and the fire for Hammer Twirl, he's even larger than Bonkers and has unique attacks like his FaceFault and (after an update) his super jump from just about every boss battle. Both are completely invincible and can ensure he stays completely unharmed through a long fall, and the slide move gets a surprising amount of distance. If anything, they're ''improved''!
* RobotMe: Mecha Dedede in ''Dream Course'' and Robo Dedede in ''Return to Dream Land's'' Scope Shot minigame. There's also HR-D3 in ''Mass Attack'' [[spoiler:and ''Return to Dream Land's'' Extra Mode, although in the latter, its color scheme more resembles Metal General EX and even has his head instead of Dedede's VSign logo.]] [[spoiler:''Battle Royale'' also has Dededestroyer Z, a mech that Dedede himself drives as the FinalBoss]].
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: While some may question his "King" title from time to time, there's no question that he's quite active when something big happens.
* SelfDuplication: He's cloned himself in ''Kirby Fighters Deluxe''. He can have up to 63 of them depending of how much continues you used and the difficulty level. [[spoiler:''Planet Robobot'' has his clone being able to split into 3 as it takes damage.]]
* ShockAndAwe: In ''Kirby's Pinball Land'' he can fire lightning from his hands to disable one of flippers. [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment It was never explained how he was able to use this attack and he never used it ever since in any other games.]]
* ShockwaveStomp: One of his moves from the very beginning has been a huge leap that ends with stars very forcefully flying from his feet when he lands. A bit of HoistByHisOwnPetard in this case, as Kirby can inhale those and fire them back at Dedede. When the devs need the battle to be harder, though, he also produces ripples of energy, proper shockwaves that can actually hurt Kirby.
* SlideAttack: In addition to the sliding kick that playable characters have, Dedede sometimes kicks off the ground to slide a little further for his FaceFault attack. He slides a fair distance when using it as a playable character, too.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: On occasion, such as the end of the Extra Game in ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand'', his name is spelled "[=DeDeDe=]".
** The blurb on the back of the ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand3'' box has this hilarious nugget:
--> "''With all those friends, two-player simultaneous play and many other helpful surprises, Kirby should have no trouble saving Dream Land again, right? Not if '''Kind Dedede''' has anything to say about it!''"
* SpamAttack:
** [[spoiler:As Masked Dedede's Revenge, one of his moves is just him wildly swinging his axe around multiple times. Shadow Dedede can do the same thing, which lasts longer.]]
** In ''Kirby Fighters Deluxe'' this is one of his new moves he can do after he TurnsRed. [[spoiler:He has the "furious axe swings" move that Masked Dedede's Revenge and Shadow Dedede has, only with his hammer.]] He also moves back and forth as he repeatedly slams his hammer in front of him before leaping up for a massive smash that creates a shockwave. [[spoiler:Dedede Clones, after they split, can do this as well.]]
* SpinAttack: He originally doesn't have one, but he can do it when he's playable. Masked Dedede, [[spoiler:his "Revenge" version in ''Triple Deluxe'', Shadow Dedede]] and Star Rod-Hammer Dedede can do it as well.
* StoutStrength:
** Despite being pudgy, anyone who can swing that hammer with such force has to be strong. ''VideoGame/KirbyPlanetRobobot'' calls him one of the strongest lifeforms on Planet Popstar.
** While a spinoff game, In ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl'' during the Subspace Emissary, King Dedede goes toe-to-toe with [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Bowser]], one of (if not the physically strongest) character in the Mario franchise, and King Dedede canonically ''wins''.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Meat, every cutscene of him eating has at least one instance of him chowing down on CartoonMeat.
* ThrowDownTheBomblet: In ''VideoGame/KirbyMassAttack'' he also throws bombs.
* TrainingFromHell: King Dedede has always been able to mimic Kirby's [[VacuumMouth Inhale]] ability but, according to his trophy description in ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosMelee Melee]]'', intense training between ''Kirby's Dream Land'' and ''Kirby's Adventure'' was what allowed him to learn to fly like Kirby.
* ATwinkleInTheSky: [[spoiler:Happens to him in Kirby Fighters Deluxe and VideoGame/KirbyBattleRoyale, when you land the final blow on him in the former after a fight against Team DDD, and when his Dededestroyer Z's explosion launches him in the latter after you defeat it. Also happens to the Dedede Clones, although they don't simply twinkle - instead they explode in a D-shaped blast each.]]
* VacuumMouth: He's able to inhale things the same way Kirby can, but he's unable to use Copy Abilities because he's [[Videogame/SuperSmashBros "already perfect"]].
* VideogameFlight: Like Kirby, he flies by inflating his stomach and flapping.
* VillainForgotToLevelGrind: [[TookALevelInBadass Averted continuously]] by Dedede. Every time he returns to fight Kirby ([[DemonicPossession and isn't being directly possessed by Dark Matter or some such]]), he ''always'' brings something new to the table. Most notably shown in ''Kirby's Adventure'' after training himself to learn Kirby's techniques, ''Revenge of the King'' with his Masked Dedede state, in ''Kirby Fighters Deluxe'' wherein he empowers himself via the Star Rod, and in ''Kirby's Blowout Blast'' where he becomes gigantic. Played painfully straight in ''Squeak Squad'' where he ends up being the very first boss, but even there he [[FlunkyBoss summons]] [[{{Mook}} Parasol Waddle Dees]] (which Kirby may choose to inhale and shoot back at him, whereas back in ''Adventure'' he didn't do anything of the sort).
* VillainousBreakdown: In the first game, he throws a ''violent'' tantrum upon being defeated in the Normal Mode of the game, leading into the game's Extra Mode. After beating that mode too however, he enters [[DespairEventHorizon a different type of breakdown.]]
* VillainousGlutton: Again, his debut saw him abscond with all the food in the land for his own pleasure. This first impression has effectively colored all of his relations with Kirby since.
* WantsAPrizeForBasicDecency: A possible interpretation of his actions in ''Kirby's Adventure'' (and ''[[VideoGameRemake Nightmare in Dream Land]]''). For having [[spoiler:secured a SealedEvilInACan]], Dedede apparently decided himself entitled to use [[HolyGround the Fountain of Dreams]] as his own personal swimming pool.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: Played this part in ''Kirby's Adventure'', as well as the remake Nightmare in Dream Land, where it seems like he was up to standard villainy by stealing the Star Rod from the Fountain of Dreams, but it is later revealed that he had a very ''good'' reason for doing so: [[spoiler:as a horrifically evil entity, aptly named "Nightmare", had contaminated the Fountain of Dreams and threatened to escape out of it; Dedede removing the Star Rod prevented Nightmare from breaking out, at the cost of the people in Dream Land being unable to have restful sleep]].
* WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer: In ''Dededetour'', his hammer abilities are improved so his hammer can solve any puzzle in the game (except for the Hypernova sections). Such as how his Hammer Swing can put out flame blocks or he gains a new ChargedAttack where he launches a "hammer beam" (that works like Archer Kirby's arrow) that cuts ropes.
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: The bio for [[spoiler:Dedede Clone 2.0]] in ''Planet Robobot'' implies that the events of ''Triple Deluxe'' left him with a fear of [[spoiler:"a certain insect"[[note]]For those curious, it's a wasp.[[/note]]]].
* WorthyOpponent: He sees Kirby as this. In ''Revenge of the King'', he even makes sure Kirby is fighting on the same terms as him by refusing to fight until Kirby picks up his old hammer, in the same way Meta Knight does with the sword. Also, in ''Kirby Fighters Deluxe'', when the pause screen description for Team [=DDD64=] has him speak in first person, he sounds rather menacing and inviting at the same time.
* YourSizeMayVary: There's some difference as to how much bigger than Kirby Dedede really is. Classic Dedede is easily twice as tall as Kirby, while from ''Nightmare in Dream Land'' forward his was easily ''three'' times Kirby's height. He was briefly shrunk down to only a fraction taller than Kirby for ''Return to Dream Land'' and ''Triple Deluxe'', while ''Fighters Deluxe'' implicitly reconciled the difference by demonstrating him using the Fountain of Dreams' power to grow.
[[/folder]]

* TwentyFourHourArmor: He's never seen without his armor/mask. If it breaks, he retreats.
* AbsenteeActor:
** He's strangely absent during the games involving Dark Matter. You'd think he'd be the first person to help Kirby with such a threat. This may have something to do with their differing director (Shinichi Shimomura), and that Meta Knight's status as a major recurring character wasn't truly set up until ''Nightmare in Dream Land'' or so.
** He's also largely missing from ''Triple Deluxe'', only appearing through cameos (as keychains and one of Circus Kirby's balloons). [[spoiler:His mirror counterpart shows up as a surprise boss, though.]]
** More jarringly, there's no mention of him at all in ''VideoGame/TeamKirbyClashDeluxe''. In a fantasy spin-off where a knight would fit perfectly, not only does he not appear as a boss, he doesn't even get any gear that references him. [[spoiler:Not even Dark Meta Knight shows up, even though the "black mirror" plays a huge role in the game's plot.]] He does eventually appear in ''VideoGame/SuperKirbyClash'', but relegated to a mere background cameo rather than a major player.
* ActuallyADoombot: The first encounter with him and King Dedede in ''Kirby Fighters 2'' turns out to be a pair of Waddle Dees in disguise.
* AmbiguouslyRelated: Removing his mask reveals he look enough like Kirby to suggest they're the same species. What, if any, significance this has is unknown. Similarly, Galacta Knight and [[spoiler:Morpho Knight]] appear even more similar to Meta Knight than they do to Kirby.
* AnotherSideAnotherStory: The "Meta Knightmare" series are sub-games dedicated to playing the whole game in TimeTrial as Meta Knight who wishes to become stronger by undergoing the same challenges Kirby went through. The very first is a sub-game of ''Nightmare in Dream Land'' where he fights everyone including himself; he has lower health than Kirby but can run much faster. The second is Meta Knightmare Ultra (sub-game of ''Super Star Ultra'') where he plays in the first 5 sub-games (not including Gourmet Race) as he journeys to become stronger and find a worthy opponent. The third, Meta Knightmare Returns (sub-game of ''Planet Robobot'') has him fending off the Haltmann Works Company's invasion while Kirby takes a nap, and he'll fight stronger enemies and bosses along the way.
* AntiHero: He does a surprising amount of morally questionable things for such an adorable looking guy, but he does mean well.
* ArtEvolution:
** In ''Kirby's Adventure'', Meta Knight has a black body with a purple mask. ''Kirby's Avalanche'' changed it to the familiar navy and silver, which stuck with ''Super Star''.
** The design of Meta Knight's armor was highly variable in earlier games; in his sprites, he usually has silver shoulder plates, while in the anime and other official artwork they're a duller blue. In his sprites, his cape has a silver collar, but in the anime and official artwork it's cyan. It wasn't until ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl'' that the color scheme was finally standardized (duller blue shoulder plates with the silver collar). Official artwork also occasionally showed armored gauntlets and sabatons that weren't consistently depicted in-game until ''Smash 4''.
** In earlier games, Meta Knight's eyes were white under his mask due to technical limitations preventing his eyes from being colored yellow. ''Smash 4'' depicted them as yellow in Kirby's Meta Knight-based alternate costume, which were then adopted in the main series from ''Planet Robobot'' onwards.
* BadassAdorable: Made even more adorable by the fact that he tries to hide it with his mask.
* BadassBaritone: Courtesy of Eric Newsome, his voice can occasionally be portrayed as damn deep.
%%* BadassBookworm: If ''VideoGame/KirbysReturnToDreamLand'' is of any indication.
* BadassInDistress: In ''The Amazing Mirror'', he goes off to quell the threat, but is trapped inside the mirror instead.
%%* BigBad: Of the ''Revenge Of Meta Knight'' mode in ''Super Star''.
* BigBadDuumvirate: He and King Dedede team up to take down Kirby in the story mode of ''Kirby Fighters 2''.
%%* BigDamnHeroes: Every once in a while.
* BlackKnight: Enigmatic and almost never seen without his armor, though it's dark blue, purple, and grey, rather than black.
* BladeSpam: One of his sword attacks. ''Star Allies'' gives his boss version a new one: after slashing the enemy upward with a rising slash, he proceeds to TeleportSpam around the enemy as he slashes them from multiple angles.
* BlushStickers: In older games, he had these under his mask, just like Kirby, but from ''Planet Robobot'' onwards, they're absent.
* BloodKnight: Given the chance to wish for anything, Meta Knight's wish is to fight the galaxy's strongest warrior.
* BossSubtitles: "The Lone Swordsman, Meta Knight" in ''Kirby Star Allies''.
* BrainwashedAndCrazy:
** In ''Planet Robobot'', he is [[spoiler:[[UnwillingRoboticization rebuilt into the obedient villainous cyborg Mecha Knight]]]]. How does Kirby get him back to normal? Knocking off his mask, of course.
** Also in ''Star Allies'' courtesy of the Jamba Heart. After you BeatTheCurseOutOfHim, you can add him to your team by either throwing a [[HeelfaceBrainwashing Friend Heart]] at him or later at the Dream Palace.
* BreakoutCharacter: Originally he was just a boss in ''Kirby's Adventure'', but he was so popular that not only has he been one of the main recurring bosses in the series, but also PromotedToPlayable in some games.
* CapeWings: Most often, although in ''Kirby's Return to Dream Land'' he takes off his cape to reveal his wings.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: In his second major appearance -- ''[[VideoGame/KirbySuperStar Revenge of Meta Knight]]'' -- he comes off as far more hostile than his mysterious ally/rival characterization in later games. It helps that he's working to subjugate Dream Land to put it under a better leadership; he presumably just stops doing so after his defeat at Kirby's hands.
* CharClone: Lacks the usual color scheme, but embodies most of the other traits.
* TheComicallySerious: Whenever he's playable, he can be subjected to the same slapstick that happens to Kirby, and he'll shrug them all off like it's everyday business.
* CoolAirship: The Halberd. It has [[FaceShip Meta Knight's mask in the front]].
* CoolMask: He's nearly always seen wearing a mask that covers his face.
* CoolSword: Galaxia. He also had a sword called Master in ''[[VideoGame/KirbyAndTheAmazingMirror Amazing Mirror]]'', which he gives to Kirby as the EleventhHourSuperpower and then leaves in the Mirror World. Master could be Galaxia, before Nintendo settled on its proper name, as it is the same color, though it lacks Galaxia's jagged edges.
* CounterAttack: He gains a [[VideoGame/SuperSmashBros Smash Bros]] style counter move in Star Allies following an update.
* CyberCyclops: [[spoiler:Mecha Knight has a single robotic eye stuck in the middle of his mask. It can shoot EyeBeams.]]
* DarkIsNotEvil: In ''Super Smash Bros.'', his Final Smash is called "Galaxia Darkness", but Meta Knight is not evil and does not even take up an antagonistic role in the Subspace Emissary. He's also generally this in the games; gloomier than most things in Popstar, but he will try to save it from any kind of threat coming at him.
* DarthVaderClone: His CoolMask, sword and armor/cape, deep voice (mostly in ''Smash Bros.''), occasional roles as a WellIntentionedExtremist and TheDragon, and Star Destroyer-like Halberd are all reminiscent of Vader. This did not go unnoticed in the early days of ''Brawl'', and [[http://images1.fanpop.com/images/photos/2500000/Meta-Vader-super-smash-bros-brawl-2507730-640-480.jpg a Vader-inspired palette swap hack of Meta Knight]] popped up in the earliest days of ''Brawl'' hacking.
* DashingHispanic: His voice and mannerisms are suggestive of this. Especially after ''Kirby Right Back At Ya'' and ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl'' gave him a voice. His [[FragileSpeedster fighting style]] and [[WorthyOpponent code of honor]] also invoke this.
* DefeatingTheUndefeatable: His request when he is granted one wish? To have a duel with the greatest warrior the universe has ever known. He ''wins!''
* DemotedToExtra:
** He's just one of the possible keychains and Circus Kirby's balloon creations in ''Triple Deluxe''.
** Like King Dedede, he only appears as a sculpture and a drawing (in Elline's diary) in ''Rainbow Curse'', as well as being an amiibo costume.
* DishingOutDirt: In ''Star Allies'', after he TurnsRed, he can manipulate giant rocks to fall onto the arena in stacks. He then proceeds to SwordPlant through the rocks. Destroying the rocks before he could do so will [[LeftStuckAfterAttack have his sword stuck on the ground after he descends]].
* DontLookAtMe: During his time as a willing antagonist, the only thing that could make Meta Knight back off and flee from Kirby was breaking his mask, exposing his face that looks like a blue-skinned yellow-eyed PaletteSwap of the little guy, seemingly disliking people seeing him in such a non-threatening form.
* TheDragon: To King Dedede in ''Kirby's Adventure''.
* DualBoss: He and King Dedede fight alongside each other in ''Kirby Fighters 2'', complete with team attacks that they perform together.
* DuelBoss: Most of the time, he hands Kirby a sword to battle him with, facing him on equal footing. If he doesn't hand Kirby a sword, [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness it's probably a sign that something is very wrong]].
* EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference: In ''Adventure'' Meta Knight lacks his cape, has a black body, round hands and a purple mask, and lacks his shoulder armor. ''VideoGame/KirbysAvalanche'' and ''Super Star'' marks the debut of his more recognizable design; the silver mask, black shoulder armor, blue body and purple feet. Later on, the anime gives him his trademark cape, and ''Smash Bros.'' series gives more details to his armor, including the M in his shoulder armor, armored gauntlets, and purple sabatons covering his feet.
* EgocentricTeamNaming: Meta Knight's Meta-Knights.
* EvilCounterpart: Two of them: Dark Meta Knight and Galacta Knight, though no one is sure if Galacta is actually evil or not.
* EvilKnockoff: In ''Meta Knightmare Returns'', [[spoiler:he faces off against a mass-production version of Mecha Knight, called Stock Mecha Knight]].
* FairPlayVillain: He's not evil, but he'll give you a sword before you fight him in a boss battle.
* AFatherToHisMen: In Revenge of Meta Knight, where he tells his crew to abandon the Halberd so they'll be safe. When Axe and Mace refuse, he acts like he doesn't care, but then he apologizes under his breath for forcing them into such a situation.
* FatalFlaw: He's willing to fight to the bitter end no matter what... except when his mask comes off. Once it does, [[DefeatByModesty he'll immediately retreat until he can hide his face again.]] Seems one of Popstar's greatest warriors suffers from self-image issues.
* FingerlessHands: It's not immediately obvious because of his gloves, but -- presumably -- being a member of Kirby's species, [[https://i.imgur.com/zcKUZ2J.jpg he has no fingers;]] as shown in ''Kirby's Super Star Stacker''.
* 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 the Hammer for]], but he often has half the [[LifeMeter health]] of Kirby or Dedede.
* GrumpyBear: His response to the [[LovecraftLite relatively]] [[SugarBowl happy]] Dream Land is to declare war on it with a giant battleship in order to end what he views as the people's lazy lifestyle. Even after that, he is known for keeping to himself.
* HealThyself: He can heal himself to full in ''Meta Knightmare Ultra'' and ''Returns'' by spending some Meta Points.
* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: He'll offer you a sword to fight him in one game and be playable in the next.
* HeroAntagonist: In at least 2 games:
** ''Kirby's Adventure'' has him going with Dedede's scheme of breaking the Star Rod. He also secretly helps Kirby in-between.
** In ''Kirby 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.
* HiddenDepths:
** In the anime, he keeps a jar of candy in his bedroom, meaning he could have a bit of a SweetTooth. Also, according to the Japan-exclusive ''Kirby Café''; he secretly enjoys parfait as a midnight snack, and also especially likes afogatto, coffee and chocolate.
** The pause screen FlavorText of his boss fight in ''Star Allies'' states that deep down he has a vain streak, which was [[HatePlague exaggerated by the Jamba Heart]] and caused him to attack Kirby and co. It's implied this could be the reason behind his OutOfCharacterMoment in ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar''.
* HumanResources: In Revenge of Meta Knight, the Meta-Knights use Wheelies to power the Halberd. After Kirby's activities lead to the Halberd's destruction, a Wheelie comes to help Kirby escape the plummeting craft, in spite of Meta Knight's protest.
* KidAppealCharacter: {{Inverted|trope}}; Meta Knight appeals to older players in this adorable, beginner-focused series through his cool design and mature personality. In the ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' games, he fits right in with the cast of ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' as seen when he teams up with Marth and Ike, and nobody bats an eyelid at his cartoony design or diminutive stature. And there's also his voice, which is one of the [[BadassBaritone deepest]] in any Nintendo franchise.
* KnightOfCerebus: He becomes this in the "Revenge of Meta Knight" segment of ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar''. Not only is the game much, much harder than normal thanks to [[TimedMission the time limit]], but the graphics of the Halberd stages are extremely dark and moody, more akin to ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' than anything ''Kirby'' related.
* LazyArtist: Prior to the 3D games, his sword is rendered in gameplay as a normal straight sword and not the jagged one it's always seen as in the artworks. In the 3D games Galaxia is rendered more accurately.
* TheLeader: Of the Meta-Knights. He becomes the RebelLeader during ''Revenge of Meta Knight''.
* LeftHandedMirror: Oddly enough, character art of him in ''Kirby & The Amazing Mirror'' depicts him as left-handed. In all other games, he's right-handed. It can be because mirrors reflect things. [[ShownTheirWork While he was in the mirror world, it changed which hand he uses]].
* ManaMeter: In ''Meta Knightmare Ultra'' and ''Returns'', the [[EssenceDrop Meta Points]] act like this for his Special Skills. It is filled by defeating foes, or by collecting them when they're floating in the wild.
* MaskPower: Not usually, but [[spoiler:In ''Kirby Fighters 2'' his regular mask breaks at the end of story mode's final chapter, causing Dedede to hand him a "Mask of Dark Bonds" that increases his and Dedede's power.]]
* MindOverMatter: ''Kirby Star Allies'' establishes Meta Knight to have the power of telekinesis, using it in his boss fight to [[DishingOutDirt rip several giant boulders out of the earth]], and hurl them down at Kirby and friends. Sometimes, he will also use his duplicates to slash them apart and send smaller pieces down that cover more ground.
* MysteriousPast: A major facet of Meta Knight's character is that his past and his possible relationship to Kirby is frequently teased but never elaborated on.
* NotSoDifferentRemark: The Kirby Café menu items themed after him imply that he enjoys eating sweets almost as much as Kirby does, [[UnmanlySecret but is ashamed of it]].
* PeoplePuppets: Gets controlled by Yin-Yarn using [[EvilWeapon four colored swords with possessing properties]] and made to fight Kirby and Prince Fluff in ''Epic Yarn''. Meta Knight can be seen trying to resist it in between each phase of the battle -- evidenced by his eyes flickering rapidly between yellow and purple -- and snaps out of it once all the swords are pulled away from him and destroyed.
* PlayingWithFire: Has a fiery attack in ''Squeak Squad'', involving him swinging his sword to launch a homing crescent of flame. He also gets one in ''Epic Yarn'' with the purple and red swords; holding them up to transform the blade into a tall pillar of flames, then bringing it down for a long-range burning slash.
* RatedMForManly: Believe it or not. Between his CoolMask, BadassBaritone, cool moves and [[BloodKnight intense competitive spirit]], Meta Knight qualifies for this trope despite being a cute puffball living in a saccharine world.
* RealMenWearPink: The Kirby Café menu reveals that he surprisingly enjoys eating rather indulgent sweets... [[UnmanlySecret when no one is looking, that is]].
* RecurringBossTemplate: When he doesn't appear as a boss (and/or he gets playable), some other boss might appear mimicking him: Dark Meta Knight, Galacta Knight, Metal General (and later Security Force), [[spoiler:Mecha Knight and all its variations, Morpho Knight,]] and Parallel Meta Knight.
* RedOniBlueOni: The blue to Kirby's red, it's even reflected in their colors. Kirby being the younger, cheerful, innocent and (at times) impulsive one, while Meta Knight being the colder and more serious one.
* RetCanon:
** Meta Knight's sword, Galaxia, was given its name from the anime; the jagged design also comes from there. ''Amazing Mirror'', in 2004 (2 years after the anime aired), uses the name "Master" as his sword, although his official artwork and the in-game logo shows the jagged design; his artwork for ''Super Star Ultra'' and the design for Meta Points' meter also used said design (although the sword in gameplay still looks smooth). ''Epic Yarn'' onward uses both the Galaxia name and design.
** ''Return to Dream Land'' has him gain the [[{{Shoryuken}} Shuttle Loop]], a no-grapple-needed version of the Wing Kirby attack that he first had in ''Smash Bros.'' series. ''Planet Robobot'' also gives him the Galaxia Darkness.
* TheReveal: Beating him in ''Kirby's Adventure'' implies that he's another member of Kirby's species.
* TheRival: To Kirby. In ''Kirby Super Star Ultra'' Meta Knight gets his own rival in the form of [[spoiler:Galacta Knight]].
* SelfDuplication: In ''Star Allies'', due to the Jamba Heart's influence, Meta Knight can split into 2-4 copies of himself after he TurnsRed. He can also do it when fought as a boss in the ''Strato Patrol [=EOS=]'' mini-game in ''VideoGame/KirbyMassAttack''.
* SerratedBladeOfPain: Galaxia officially is designed like this, although the game may not always show it in such a form.
* ShadowedFaceGlowingEyes: Meta Knight wears a face mask that covers his face. Only his eyes glow underneath. Under the mask, he looks like Kirby.
* SharpDressedMan: In ''Battle Royale'', one of his unlockable costumes gives him an opera-like mask, a white top hat and a ClassyCane. It's a reference to both his appearance in the Kirby Cafe event and how he was drawn by Elline in her Secret Diary.
* ShockAndAwe: Sometimes uses electricity-based attacks.
* ShouldersOfDoom: His shoulder armor is pretty cool, especially in the later versions where it has his logo on it. [[spoiler:Mecha Knight has an overly big pair that can [[ShoulderCannon shoot missiles]]]].
* 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''.
* SphereOfPower: [[spoiler:Mecha Knight can emit a spherical aura around him that damages Kirby whenever he comes near. He's still vulnerable to long-ranged attacks, though, and he moves slower and leaves stars as he moves.]]
* SpinAttack: As a boss he has an attack where he spins around in midair, creating a tornado around himself while slowly falling down, trying to strike Kirby from above. In a variant, he can also do a vertical slash spin attack, both as a boss and playable character.
* StabTheSky: His Up-Thrust move where he directly stabs up is his original move with the sword, i.e Kirby cannot use it (except when he's wielding the "Master").
* StealthMentor: In ''Kirby's Adventure''. In the original, he's the one who supplies Kirby with the Invincible Lollipops, yet he periodically throws his soldiers, the Meta-Knights, at him and fights Kirby himself. There's no other explanation for these actions except to be secretly training Kirby to become stronger.
* SuperSpeed: In ''Kirby Super Star Ultra'', he's able to fly through the galaxy about as fast as Kirby's warp star, which can [[FasterThanLightTravel fly faster than light.]] In ''Meta Knightmare Ultra'' and ''Meta Knightmare Returns'' one of his skills is 'Meta Quick', which temporarily boosts his speed--and he's already considerably quicker than Kirby.
* SuperStrength: Meta Knight isn't shy when it comes to strength either. His attacks generally hit hard and in ''Meta Knightmare Returns'' in ''VideoGame/KirbyPlanetRobobot'', he can use Galaxia to cleave through giant wooden beams, steel chains and other metal obstacles that Kirby cannot without his Robobot Armor and an appropriate ability. His skills "Mach Tornado" (at least in ''Super Star''), "Meta Knightmares" and [[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl "Galaxia Darkness"]] are significantly powerful against foes, with the former two quite able to take out mini-bosses in one go and even [[spoiler:Star Dream recognises that Meta Knight "possesses incredible power" and is "mighty indeed."]]
* SweetTooth: Keeps a jar of candy in his room in the anime, and all of the menu items at the Kirby Café that are themed after him are sweet-based.
* SwordBeam: He has a crescent sword beam attack in many of his fights; in ''Star Allies'' he spams it more. He can also do it when he's playable, mimicking Kirby. In a variant, his Galaxia Darkness skill (in ''Planet Robobot'') has him do a quick slash that launches a beam that hits to the both sides of him.
* SwordFight: Will almost always throw Kirby a sword before their duels. That is, [[UnwillingRoboticization when he's his]] [[BrainwashedAndCrazy normal self.]]
** 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.
** In ''Meta Knightmare Returns'', [[spoiler:the fight between him and Stock Mecha Knight becomes this by definition. Also, in the end, all of Star Dream's constructs/summons are swordsmen in some way or another; the program used for it is even called "Sword_Master.EXE".]]
** In ''Kirby Star Allies'', this is his intention. Waiting a few seconds or attacking the platform he's stood on [[EasterEgg will cause him to leap to the arena and kick the sword away.]] You can also [[{{Flynning}} carefully time your sword swings against Meta Knight's]] and, if you're lucky, it'll interrupt his attacks.
* SwordPlant: One of his moves, used both as a boss and playable character. In ''Squeak Squad'' he can do this to discharge electricity around him while in ''Super Star (Ultra)'' he does this for either his ground wave attack or his giant tornado attack. Also used in ''VideoGame/KirbyPlanetRobobot'' to disconnect Kirby's Robobot Armor off [[spoiler:the Halberd for the final phase against Star Dream.]]
* SwordSparks: Meta Knight's sword Galaxia can be used to light fuses or even charge up batteries and plugs as evidenced in ''Meta Knightmare Returns''.
* TailSlap: [[spoiler:Mecha Knight+ can grow a long mechanical tail after he TurnsRed and then attack with it. He can even do a SpamAttack with it. Stock Mecha Knight also has one.]]
* TeleportCloak: He retreats by wrapping himself in this cape and flying straight up, [[VideoGame/MegaManClassic Mega Man style!]]
* ThreeStrikeCombo: One of his moves as a boss is a three slash attack with his sword. In his playable 3D appearances he can also do the same, though he then subverts it by adding a BladeSpam right after the third attack.
* TookALevelInJerkass: His motives were somewhat ambiguous in ''Kirby's Adventure'', but his actions in ''Revenge of Meta Knight'' were outright malicious, right down to threatening Kirby directly. It's toned down somewhat in ''Ultra'', and he goes back to being ambiguous in subsequent games.
-->'''Meta Knight''': (''Kirby Super Star'') Kirby, this is it! [[PrepareToDie Prepare to die!]]
-->'''Meta Knight''': (''Ultra'') This is the end. Kirby! Come meet your doom!
* TornadoMove: He has two moves like this: one where he spins in a tornado in midair while slowly descending, trying to hit Kirby, and another where he charges energy in his sword and then summons a tall tornado that moves forward, covering most of the screen. The latter is made into one of his skills in ''Meta Knightmare Ultra'' named Mach Tornado.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Meta Knight, despite being so serious, is surprisingly fond of coffee and chocolate. He's also got a real sweet tooth, with his favourite desserts being parfait and affogato.
* TraumaButton: If the intro screen animations in ''Star Allies'' are to be believed, [[UnwillingRobotization what happened to him]] in ''Planet Robobot'' makes him very uncomfortable around Susie.
* TrueCompanions: His ''Star Allies'' description reveals he feels this way about the other three heroes; even though he acts cold and stoic, he still appreciates the company and greatly values their friendship.
* TheUnfought: In ''VideoGame/KirbyAirRide''. Whereas Dedede is unlocked in a battle, you unlock Meta Knight by staying airborne for thirty minutes or more in the Air Ride mode.
* UnmanlySecret: Possibly the reason why he usually keeps his adorable face hidden behind a mask at all times. The Kirby Café menu also suggests that he tries very hard to keep it a secret when he indulges his SweetTooth, describing him "sneaking" a chocolate cake out of his cloak and hurriedly eating affogato in the early morning.
* UnrevealAngle: Strangely, despite his face showing showing up several times in previous games (albeit briefly), ''Kirby Fighters 2'' [[spoiler:keeps his face concealed after his mask falls off in the TrueFinalBoss fight.]] A more humorous example occurs earlier in the game; when Dedede throws Meta Knight a Maxim Tomato, he turns away from the camera so that we can't see how he eats it with his mask on.
* UnwillingRoboticization: [[spoiler:In ''Planet Robobot'' he is captured by the Haltmann Works Company and converted into a cyborg soldier known as [[PunnyName Mecha Knight]].]]
* VideogameFlight: He can fly around the stages with his wings. Due to it being based on Wing Kirby, he flies faster than normal Kirby.
* VillainsActHeroesReact: His most villainous portrayal (''Revenge of Meta Knight'') had him act to take over Dream Land [[WellIntentionedExtremist thinking it would be better under his rule]]. More heroic portrayals have him acting ahead of Kirby, [[HeroAntagonist only to come off as a foe]]. His fully heroic moments come when he is reacting as much as Kirby.
* VocalDissonance: Despite being a round, tiny WaddlingHead of the same species as Kirby, all his voiced appearances give him a manly BadassBaritone, which only adds to his appeal.
* WakeUpCallBoss: Is 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 Helper to Hero.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: Especially in ''Revenge of Meta Knight''. He thinks that the Dream Landers are lazy and/or unorganized and he feels that it'll become a better place if he ruled it.
* WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer: Whenever he gets playable, he'll be able to solve all the puzzles in the game with just his sword, while Kirby would often need the more appropriate powers, one at a time. When Kirby acquires it (in form of "Master") in ''Amazing Mirror'', Kirby can do the same.
* TheWorfEffect: In ''[[VideoGame/KirbyAndTheAmazingMirror Amazing Mirror]]'', ''VideoGame/TheSubspaceEmissary'', ''VideoGame/KirbysEpicYarn'', and ''VideoGame/KirbyPlanetRobobot'', he has been defeated and/or [[BrainwashedAndCrazy compromised]] before the events of the game by the MonsterOfTheWeek.
* WorthyOpponent: Always refuses to fight you until you pick up the sword he offers.
** The only time he breaks this pattern is in Revenge of Meta Knight, and then, he'll wait 30 seconds before jumping into the fray. Which is reasonable, since by that point [[spoiler:the Halberd is falling towards the ocean.]]
** In ''Squeak Squad'' -- while he doesn't hand you the sword, there is one in the room you're in before you fight him. Additionally, the stars his attacks leave give you the Sword ability if you swallow them... for some reason.
*** It should also be noted that he probably doesn't hand you one because [[spoiler:he is trying to prevent Kirby from releasing Dark Nebula]].
** This is also how you can suspect that [[spoiler:the Meta Knight you fought in ''Kirby & The Amazing Mirror'' is an evil copy; he doesn't hand you a sword before the fight.]]
** In ''Star Allies'', you can skip getting the sword by flying up to Meta Knight's perch and landing on it (or, like in ''Super Star'', just wait for half a minute), causing it to collapse. This annoys Meta Knight enough to kick the sword away and fight you anyway.
** He eventually gets one in the form of [[spoiler:Galacta Knight]].
** Whenever he's brainwashed to attack Kirby, he also won't give Kirby a sword. The only exception is in ''Star Allies'', which is because this particular type of brainwashing exaggerated his vain streak, meaning he was desperate to prove that he is stronger than Kirby.

* AmbiguousGender: Although localized with masculine pronouns elsewhere, Kirby's gender is generally seen as more [[ShesAManInJapan androgynous]] in the original Japanese, likely in order to better appeal to boys and girls in that market. Kirby dresses up as Music/KyaryPamyuPamyu in the 2014 [[UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS New Nintendo 3DS]] artwork and an Empress doll in the 2017 ''Hinamatsuri'' artwork, and is depicted alongside both the girls' and the boys' groups in the 2018 Valentine's Day and 2019 White Day art, respectively. This also happens in the games, with the more recent ''[[VideoGame/KirbyFighters2 Kirby Fighters]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/TeamKirbyClashDeluxe Team Kirby Clash]]'' [[VideoGame/SuperKirbyClash spinoffs]] having [[UnlockableContent alternate costumes]] with [[TertiarySexualCharacteristics gendered characteristics]] such as the MagicalGirl outfit. It should be noted that Kirby prefers the first-person pronoun ''[[UsefulNotes/JapanesePronouns boku]]'' in the few speaking occasions and is usually said to be referred to as ''[[UsefulNotes/JapaneseHonorifics -kun]]'' by other characters such as Ado/Adeleine, which are typically identifiers for a young male in Japanese speech (though can also apply to the {{tomboy}} [[{{bokukko}} archtype]]); however, Creator/MasahiroSakurai once teased that Kirby could actually be [[SamusISAGirl female]], and several other Japanese sources including Creator/MakikoOhmoto have stated that Kirby's true sex is [[NonHumanNonBinary unknown]].

* AmbiguousGender: Although localized with masculine pronouns elsewhere, Kirby's gender is generally seen as more [[ShesAManInJapan androgynous]] in the original Japanese, likely in order to better appeal to boys and girls in that market. Kirby dresses up as Music/KyaryPamyuPamyu in the 2014 [[UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS New Nintendo 3DS]] artwork and an Empress doll in the 2017 ''Hinamatsuri'' artwork, and is depicted alongside both the girls' and the boys' groups in the 2018 Valentine's Day and 2019 White Day art, respectively. It should be noted that Kirby prefers the first-person pronoun ''[[UsefulNotes/JapanesePronouns boku]]'' in the few speaking occasions and is usually said to be referred to as ''[[UsefulNotes/JapaneseHonorifics -kun]]'' by other characters such as Ado/Adeleine, which are typically identifiers for a young male in Japanese speech (though can also apply to the {{tomboy}} archtype); however, Creator/MasahiroSakurai once teased that Kirby could actually be [[SamusISAGirl female]], and several other Japanese sources including Creator/MakikoOhmoto have stated that Kirby's true sex is [[NonHumanNonBinary unknown]].

* AmbiguousGender: Although localized with masculine pronouns elsewhere, Kirby's gender is androgynous in the original Japanese, and he's usually referred to using neutral terms. He's depicted alongside both the girls' and the boys' groups in the Valentine's and White Day art, respectively, and dresses up as the Empress in the 2017 Japanese Doll Festival artwork.

* NonHumanNonBinary: Averted in localizations. In the Japanese version, he's a genderless alien.

* VillainKiller: None of these four have any qualms using aggressive and lethal means to deal with their foes, especially since they tend to be monstrous EldrithAbominations.

* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Tomatoes, especially Maxim Tomatoes which fully heal Kirby's HP. In the anime, it was watermelons instead. He's also very fond of [[IWasToldThereWouldBeCake cake]], to the point where the plots of at least [[VideoGame/KirbySqueakSquad two]] [[VideoGame/KirbyBattleRoyale games]] revolved around him (and Bandanna Waddle Dee, in the latter case) trying to obtain it.

* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Tomatoes, especially Maxim Tomatoes which fully heal Kirby's HP. In the anime, it was watermelons instead. He's also very fond of cake, to the point where the plots of at least [[VideoGame/KirbySqueakSquad two]] [[VideoGame/KirbyBattleRoyale games]] revolved around him (and Bandanna Waddle Dee, in the latter case) trying to obtain it.

* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Tomatoes, especially Maxim Tomatoes which fully heal his HP. In the anime, it was watermelons instead.

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[[/folder]]

[[Characters/KirbyKirby Click here for tropes on him.]]

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[[Characters/KirbyKingDedede Click here for tropes on him.]]

[[Characters/KirbyMetaKnight Click here for tropes on him.]]

* AllLovingHero: Downplayed; Kirby is nice, caring, and perfectly willing to forgive his enemies if they desire to reform; if one chooses to refuse his offer of redemption, ''he will end you''.
* AdorableAbomination: Kirby is a small, adorably plushy alien with a CannibalismSuperpower [[spoiler:who's heavily implied to be related to DestroyerDeity Void Termina]].
* AmbiguousGender: Although localized with masculine pronouns elsewhere, Kirby's gender is androgynous in the original Japanese, and he's usually referred to using neutral terms. He's depicted alongside both the girls' and the boys' groups in the Valentine's and White Day art, respectively, and dresses up as the Empress in the 2017 Japanese Doll Festival artwork.
* AmbiguouslyRelated:
** [[Anime/KirbyRightBackAtYa The anime]] suggests [[spoiler:Kirby is a rebellious former creation of [=eNeMeE=], or a failed prototype completely lacking evil intent]]. However, nothing officially confirms this.
** [[spoiler:The final boss and epilogue of ''Star Allies'' very heavily implies that Kirby has some sort of connection to Void Termina and, by extension, ''Dark Matter'',]] but no clear cut answers are ever given.
** TheReveal in Meta Knight's fight in ''VideoGame/KirbysAdventure'' seems to have been intended to confirm that they're of the same species, but DivergentCharacterEvolution as soon as MK's second appearance but a certain amount of doubt on the idea. Similarly, Galacta Knight and [[spoiler:Morpho Knight]] at the very least look very similar to both of them, but any further connection is theoretical at best.
* AngryEyebrows: He doesn't just sport these on the [[AmericanKirbyIsHardcore boxart]] either. Kirby will commonly adopt this expression when he's had enough and it's time to get serious.
** In some of the games since ''Videogame/KirbysReturnToDreamLand'', there'll be times where, after Kirby hops on a Warp Star, he'll [[NoticingTheFourthWall look at the screen with such brows and a determined nod]] before the star brings him to his next destination.
** ''VideoGame/KirbyTripleDeluxe'' has him briefly sporting one in Hypernova form [[spoiler:right before he vaporizes Queen Sectonia with her own reflected WaveMotionGun]].
** "[[VideoGame/KirbyPlanetRobobot Your people have unfortunately been seen as...obstacles]]." You should ''not'' have said that, Susie.
** He also uses this expression in ''Videogame/KirbyStarAllies'' [[spoiler:when he's fighting on the Star Allies Sparkler against Void Termina.]]
* BadassAdorable: Don't let his [[BewareTheNiceOnes cute]] appearance fool you. He fights tyrannical despots and vicious monsters on a regular basis, and he (in some cases, literally) eats {{Eldritch Abomination}}s for breakfast, many of which would have made countless other heroes weep with fear. ''Planet Robobot'' has [[spoiler:a reality warping omnicidal AI struggle to try to calculate his power level before settling for listing it as [[ReadingsAreOffTheScale infinite]]]]. His mere walk in 3D games is pure badass, especially when he's carrying something. ''Star Allies'' takes this UpToEleven [[spoiler:by having him kill Void Termina in a BeamOWar with an energy beam made from ThePowerOfLove itself]].
* BadPowersGoodPeople: Characters with a CannibalismSuperpower aren't usually part of the heroes, and even rarer are heroic characters that treat such an ability casually as a simple way of life. But despite eating living beings and assimilating their abilities being his entire powerset, Kirby is still a sweet and friendly guy whose always up for helping whenever a crisis occurs, and has close friendships with numerous characters, including former enemies. It helps that, barring rare instances of DeaderThanDead, none of the characters permanently stay dead, with implications that almost every boss has a form of ResurrectiveImmortality, since every successive mini-boss and recurring boss description talks as if they're the same character each time, with some like Kracko outright confirming their cases, so outside rivalries and working for villains, him eating them causes no hard feelings. It's even suggested that normal enemies, even ones that were swallowed, don't really die since they'll reappear in the exact spot they were in if the player backtracks... but ''only'' if they were defeated in some way.
* BeTheBall: Kirby is forcibly transformed into a ball in ''Canvas Curse'' that you have to guide around. Kirby also learns in ''Rainbow Curse'' how to tuck his arms and legs into his body in order to willingly become a ball, which also can be guided around. Earlier on, he also had the Ball power from ''VideoGame/KirbysAdventure'', which lets him change into and function as a HyperDestructiveBouncingBall.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Villains would last a lot longer if they just left Kirby and Popstar alone. Unfortunately, Popstar is a WeirdnessMagnet.
* BigEater: Kirby loves to eat and it [[PersonalityPowers fits his abilities too]]. In Gourmet Race in ''Kirby Super Star'', he even races against his equally gluttonous rival King Dedede to see who can eat more.
* BlackBeadEyes: In earlier appearances. He now has dark blue irises, but his eyes are still bead-like, to the extent that ''Kirby's Epic Yarn'' [[ArtShift outright makes them beads]].
* BlackHoleBelly: The current page picture for the trope. Kirby can inhale things larger than himself as his mouth stretches to fit them. However, he's [[ContractualBossImmunity unable to inhale boss sized foes]], and mini-bosses must be [=KOed=] before they can be inhaled [[note]]in the anime, Meta Knight explains that Kirby can't inhale excessively large or heavy objects[[/note]]. The Hypernova ability from ''VideoGame/KirbyTripleDeluxe'' makes this pretty much literal.
* BlushSticker: Kirby's are [[FacialMarkings permanent]].
* BlowYouAway: After inhaling a gulp of air to fly, Kirby can release the compressed air held in his mouth to damage a foe in front of him. It's pretty weak, unable to damage most bosses and mid-bosses, serving primarily as an EmergencyWeapon.
* ButtMonkey: Most cinematics not related to the plot involve Kirby getting into some kind of trouble. Case in point, the level title cards in ''Dream Land'' and ''Adventure'', and the blooper reel in ''Super Star Ultra''.
* CaptainCrash: Every flight on the Warp Star ends with it colliding with the ground or being destroyed in some form.
* CartoonCreature: The name of Kirby's (and presumably Meta's [[spoiler:and Galacta's]]) species is never revealed. The closest we ever get are endearing descriptions like "Puffball", "Marshmallow", and "Balloon".
* CatchPhrase: Two: "Hiii!" and "Poyo!". Both are somewhat [[AbandonedCatchphrase discredited]], with the latter only ever appearing in the anime (and ''VideoGame/KirbyMassAttack'') and the former not appearing nearly as often as it used to.
* CheerfulChild: His cheerful and innocent personality contrasts amusingly with his powers, making it easy for foes to dismiss him as JustAKid.
* ChronicHeroSyndrome: Has shades of this, as shown in ''Kirby 64'' and ''VideoGame/KirbysReturnToDreamLand'' where his immediate reaction to finding out someone's problem is to offer his aid to them.
* CuteLittleFangs: He has a right one in "Kirby of the Stars Moretsu Pupupu Hour!"
* DeathbringerTheAdorable: According to Creator/ShigeruMiyamoto, he was named Kirby because of the amusing contrast between such a manly name and his cute appearance.
* DeathGlare: Yes, you read that right.
** Kirby shoots [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/akhep8yl_by_gyroidsir_d8gha6s.jpg a hilarious one]] at the camera when the tutorial calls him a "[[WhoWritesThisCrap jolly fellow]]" in ''Super Star''.
** He also does this in both ''Triple Deluxe'' and ''Planet Robobot'', to [[spoiler:Queen Sectonia]] and to Susie respectively.
* DidWeJustHaveTeaWithCthulhu: Kirby, the titular protagonist of the series, is implied to be much more powerful than he lets on. He's the only one who can stand up to many of the evil abominations that threaten Dream Land. ''VideoGame/KirbySqueakSquad'' shows that the inside of his body is a StomachOfHolding where he converts the things he swallows into bubbles to be used later. ''VideoGame/KirbyStarAllies'' implies that [[spoiler:Kirby is just a good incarnation or creation of Void Termina, the God of Destruction who is also implied to be the MonsterProgenitor of the evil Dark Matter.]]
* DiscardAndDraw: The limitation of Kirby's Copy Ability. He can only use one Ability at a time and must discard his current ability if he wishes to obtain a new one.
* DoesNotLikeSpam: While Kirby can and will eat almost anything, swallowing the [[SpidersAreScary Mariel]] enemy in [=KDL3=] and Kirby 64 will actually damage him.
* DreadfulMusician: Kirby loves to sing. Unfortunately, he is completely tone deaf, not to mention ''loud'', to the extent that it becomes a screen-clearing SmartBomb attack in the games, and in the anime, a full minute of his caterwauling reduces Castle Dedede to rubble. The early games' description for the mike copy power and the microphone item from the first game state that Kirby is at least aware that he is not a good singer.
* DullEyesOfUnhappiness: [[spoiler:When selecting Soul Melter EX difficulty in [[VideoGame/KirbyStarAllies The Ultimate Choice]]]], Kirby is given blank eyes, [[spoiler:looking similar to Void Termina's core's "main" face]].
* EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference: Early on, Kirby had completely black eyes instead of blue eyes and his blush stickers were instead a simplistic blush. His face compared to his body was also smaller back then, making him look puffier and rounder. [[spoiler:This design is even available as an unlockable bonus in ''Kirby Star Allies''.]]
* EatingTheEnemy: Although Kirby's heroic, he's certainly not above eating any foe unlucky enough to get in his way.
* EvilCounterpart: [[spoiler:Subverted.]] In ''The Amazing Mirror'', Shadow Kirby [[spoiler:actually just wants to protect the Mirror World, much like Kirby to Dream Land]]. The alternate Shadow Kirby in ''Triple Deluxe's'' Kirby Fighters is the FinalBoss.
* ExoticEyeDesigns: In ''VideoGame/KirbyStarAllies'', Kirby now has what looks like starry vistas in the blue part of his eyes.
* ExposedExtraterrestrials: He sometimes wears hats, but that's about it.
* ExtremeOmnivore: There are a select few things he will not eat, such as the "fuzzy" worms from the Twin Woods boss, but for the most part, he is fine with swallowing anything he can get into his mouth.
* FingerlessHands: Kirby is able to wield swords, hammers, umbrellas, and still more weaponry with his stubby little arms.
* {{Flanderization}}:
** Kirby's a well-known BigEater, but ''Squeak Squad'' behaves as if this is his sole motivation, using the pursuit of some strawberry shortcake as an ExcusePlot for another adventure (with the necessary and unfortunate result of Kirby slaughtering his way through hundreds of innocent bystanders).
** Kirby's cuteness has increasingly crowded out other character traits with time (especially any sense of comedy); this was undoubtedly helped in part by his anime portrayal, in which he's officially a baby.
* {{Flight}}: Kirby can fly by sucking in air and flapping his arms. It's not very fast though so he uses his [[SkySurfing Warp Star]] when he needs to travel quickly.
* GogglesDoNothing: While riding on Wheelie Rider or Robobot Armor, he wears a helmet with goggles, but he doesn't put the goggles on his eyes.
* GoodIsNotSoft: [[BlobMonster Ironically]], his general behavior in the games indicates something like this. If he thinks someone's up to no good, he won't hesitate to beat them up, and if somebody refuses his offer of redemption and friendship [[DefeatMeansFriendship even after having their butt kicked]], then they might as well give a sorrowful goodbye not just to their life, but to their very ''soul''.
* HardHead: He can crush blocks and damage minor enemies above him simply by jumping beneath them. He can also damage enemies by falling headfirst (i.e after a long jump).
* TheHero: He's the one saving the day in all games.
* HeroicMime: In most games, he can't manage more than a "Hi!" or a "Poyo!" He does speak in ''Epic Yarn'', but only with narration. In earlier games, he narrated the instruction manual to the player, and in the Game Boy Advance games, the pause screen descriptions for his [[PowerCopying Copy Abilities]] is delivered in first person. In ''Avalanche,'' Kirby speaks in full sentences when delivering trash-talk to his opponents before a match. He also sometimes [[CallingYourAttacks calls his attacks]] with certain copy abilities, especially in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros''
* InSeriesNickname: In Japanese: ''Hoshi no Kirby'' ("Kirby of the Stars").
* InexplicablyAwesome: It's a mystery as to what Kirby is or where he came from, or why he has his powers.
* InnocentBlueEyes: His blue BlackBeadEyes help clue in his innocent and naive nature.
* InstantExpert: His Copy Ability lets him learn any ability near instantaneously. He even shows this on occasion without his Copy Abilities. In ''Planet Robobot'', despite never seeing the Robobot Armor before, he's able to quickly get the hang of piloting it.
* JumpedAtTheCall: When a threat comes to Planet Popstar, or a stranger is in need, Kirby will ''always'' be there to help.
* KidHero:
** His [[VagueAge age]] is never specifically stated in the games, but the first game's [[AllThereInTheManual instruction manual]] refers to him as a "little boy". This and his high-pitched voice and childish mannerisms suggests he's young.
** In the [[AlternateContinuity anime's continuity]] it's explained that Kirby wasn't meant to awaken for another 200 years but because of King Dedede's actions he was called to Planet Popstar before his powers were fully developed and he has the ''mentality'' of a baby as a result.
** Despite typically appearing young, a cancelled game called ''Kid Kirby'' for the SNES or [=N64=] would have been about [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Kirby as a child]], which would have suggested his current age is at least a teenager.
* KillerRabbit: Kirby's fighting skills contrast greatly with his cute appearance.
* LostFoodGrievance: Stealing Kirby's food is a pretty easy way to piss him off. In the first game he volunteers to get the food back that King Dedede stole and in ''Squeak Squad'' the pursuit of his strawberry shortcake, stolen by the titular mice, becomes his primary motivation in spite of [[HalfwayPlotSwitch everything else]] happening around him. In ''Rainbow Curse'', the intro shows Kirby so distraught over his de-colored apple, Elline has to smack him to turn his focus over to the real problem. Once that's done, Kirby can't help but gaze longfully at his apple again, which implies one of his motivations to save Popstar is so he can eat again.
* LuminescentBlush: In the GoldenEnding of Crystal Shards, Kirby's whole face goes bright red [[spoiler:[[CrushBlush after Ribbon kisses him]]]].
* MesACrowd:
** Because of the events of ''the Amazing Mirror'', there are at least three other versions of Kirby running around. Provides an [[JustifiedTrope in-universe justification for why]] there's multiple Kirby's that can be played at the same time in future games.
** During ''VideoGame/KirbyMassAttack'', the BigBad turns the one normal sized Kirby into 10 much smaller ones, who then have to work together. Unlike ''Amazing Mirror'', they're suggested to still have some sort of inate connection.
* MrViceGuy: He has a bit of a gluttony problem, though obviously not to the same degree as King Dedede
* NiceGuy: Kirby is by-far the nicest guy you could ever meet. The tutorial in ''Super Star'' even calls him a "jolly fellow", which he seems to resent.
* NiceHat: Starting from ''Kirby Super Star'' and consistently since ''Nightmare in Dream Land'', Kirby gets a special hat for (almost) all of his abilities, though it's not until ''Nightmare in Dream Land'' that the hats become a staple. Since then, the ability hats evolve in different ways in multiple games. In ''Team Kirby Clash Deluxe'' he can get alternate hats for each power that serve as upgraded armor, while in ''Kirby Fighters Deluxe'' and ''Kirby Battle Royale'' the extra hats are mostly cosmetic.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: In ''Kirby's Adventure'', Kirby fights King Dedede and his minions to get the Star Rod back, thinking Dedede was acting selfishly by breaking the Star Rod and causing Dream Land to be unable to dream or have restful sleep. Kirby, convinced that Dedede is the bad guy, collects the Star Rod's pieces and then puts it into the Fountain of Dreams, [[spoiler:which unwittingly releases Nightmare, who Dedede was trying to keep from being unleashed. In the end, after Kirby defeats Nightmare, it's revealed that Dedede did what he did for good intentions (although the part about bathing in the fountain is quite questionable, to say the least)]].
* NonHumanNonBinary: Averted in localizations. In the Japanese version, he's a genderless alien.
* TheNoseless: Though like with his FingerlessHands, it does not preclude him [[InvisibleAnatomy doing things that require one]]. He sneezes in game cutscenes, wipes his nose in imitation of Knuckle Joe (who also doesn't have a nose) in the anime, and snorts up an entire Wapod in the manga.
* OneManArmy: While Kirby excels with the help of his friends, he can certainly hold his own in a serious one-on-one battle, as Meta Knight, Galacta Knight, and many a Soul-boss can attest to.
* OneTrackMindedHunger: Kirby spends the majority of ''Kirby: Squeak Squad'' in pursuit of his stolen strawberry shortcake, completely oblivious of what's going on around him. He's at least better at it in ''Rainbow Curse'' and ''Battle Royale'', although food is still his primary motivations there.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Considering how cheerful he normally acts, you ''know'' shit's about to get real when he gives a DeathGlare to [[spoiler:Queen Sectonia right before he blasts her away with her WaveMotionGun]]. He does a similar DeathGlare to Susie when her words offend him.
* OutOfCharacterMoment: In ''Avalanche'', he's often sarcastic and rude to his opponents.
* PocketDimension: His stomach is implied to be one in ''Kirby: Squeak Squad'' and the anime.
* PowerCopying: Starting with ''Kirby's Adventure'', Kirby is able to absorb the powers of certain enemies he eats.
* ProtagonistTitle: He is the protagonist of his [[Franchise/{{Kirby}} eponymous series]].
* RedBaron: According to The Arena's description, Kirby is also called the "Pink Wonder" (in ''Super Star''), the "pink terror" (in ''Ultra''), or even the Pink Demon (in ''Planet Robobot'').
* RedOniBlueOni: Kirby's the red to Meta Knight's blue, it's even reflected in their colors. Kirby; pink with red feet is young, cheerful, innocent and (at times) impulsive, while Meta Knight; blue with purple feet is cold, calculating and serious. He can also be considered the red to Bandana Waddle Dee's blue.
* RidiculouslyCuteCritter: Oversized head? [[WaddlingHead He is all head.]] Big, pink colored, stubby limbs, a big smile, large eyes... no fur, but the chubbiness and softness more than makes up for it.
* ShipTease: With [=ChuChu=] in ''Dream Land 3'' and Ribbon in ''Kirby 64''.
* ShowyInvincibleHero: There's no question Kirby will win. The only questions are how he wins, how cool it looks, and how much fun the player will have.
* SilentSnarker: In ''Super Star'', he gives the camera an [[WhoWritesThisCrap annoyed]] look when the Tutorial calls him "A pretty jolly fellow".
* SignatureMove: His [[VacuumMouth Inhale]] ability as well as [[PowerCopying copying]] his [[CannibalismSuperpower enemy's]] powers.
* SkilledButNaive: He's one of the strongest people in Dream Land in spite of still being a child; and there are hints that he has the potential to [[StrongerWithAge become even stronger as he ages]]. However, being young means that he's rather impulsive and easily manipulated by smarter villains.
* SkySurfing: Kirby's Warpstar lets him do this. It can move at [[FasterThanLightTravel warp speed]] and he generally uses it whenever he needs to travel long distances quickly. [[CaptainCrash He's not very good at landing it,]] though.
* SlideAttack: One of his basic moves is a quick sliding kick. It works as an attack and for an evasive maneuver. In the later games, this also helps Kirby destroy things while holding an item.
* SpannerInTheWorks: Whenever Kirby's not being an UnwittingPawn, he routinely enters the villain's scheme as an unintended variable. Taking it even further, barring ''Milky Way Wishes'' and the reappearances of Dark Matter where he knows full well how dangerous it and Zero are, Kirby himself never enters an adventure ''intending'' to end up in some epic clash to save the galaxy [[note]]He enters the scene just because his peace has been disturbed and he'd like to know ''why''[[/note]], it just sort of ends up ''happening'' every time.
* StarPower: Kirby's mainly powered with the power of the stars. His most basic attack will make him spit stars at his opponents. Then there's the Star Rod, Starship, Triple Star (although it was Daroach's), [[spoiler:Robobot Halberd Mode's Planet Buster]], Friend Star and [[spoiler:Star Allies Sparkler]], all of them utilizing the star power in their own ways. Also the Sparkling Stars in ''Dream Land'' and the Milky Way Wishes in ''Super Star'' (the latter forms the Starship) and the Warp Stars that he uses to move around, even into space. He isn't the "Kirby of the Stars" for nothing.
* SuperpowerLottery: On his own, Kirby's pretty capable and relatively skilled, but when utilizing his signature power, the sky's the limit. Kirby's PowerCopying (especially in later games) isn't just recreating a single move or technique -- [[InstantExpert it is instant, total cognition of his ability and all of its applicable utilities; no training or learning required, automatic mastery]]. Kirby can quite literally ''do'' anything, ''with'' anything, ''from'' anything in ''any'' fashion. The only thing keeping it from being a StoryBreakerPower is that Kirby can only use [[DiscardAndDraw one of these powers at a time]], but even then, some games such as ''Squeak Squad'' and ''Star Allies'' have Kirby be able to combine his Copy Abilities making them stronger.
* SuperSpit: His basic ability Star Spit is him spitting out the inhaled enemy/debris/floating stars out as a projectile attack. It's moderately strong against bosses (stronger than many Copy Ability attacks), especially if Kirby manages to inhale two or more things before the spit.
* SuperStrength: Kirby displays this in both his base form and his various Copy Abilities. He's capable of cracking planets with his fists as Fighter Kirby, can swing giant swords and hammers with ease, and in the anime he chucked a monster clear out of orbit and into a black hole as Throw Kirby, and [[HurlItIntoTheSun launches a monster to the sun and back]] on a frying pan.
* SuperToughness: His soft, rubbery body is surprisingly durable in a fight allowing him to take all manner of punishment. Across the games, he's been flattened, blasted by missiles and cannonballs, burned by jet flames, DBZ level {{Wave Motion Gun}}s, planet eclipsing explosions, and more, yet he always comes [[{{Pun}} bouncing back]]. Fittingly, the US commercials for ''Kirby's Adventure'' and ''Kirby Super Star Ultra'' label him as "One Tough Creampuff" and "A Super Tough Pink Puff", respectively.
* SwissArmyHero: He has a different form for each of his Copy Abilities complete with their [[NiceHat own hat]]. In ''Epic Yarn'' and ''Rainbow Curse'', he instead has unique transformations that lets Kirby do various things in their respective games.
* SympathyForTheDevil:
** Kirby has a longstanding history of easily forgiving enemies who have decided to ease off the bad deeds. Heck, he doesn't even seem ''aware'' that King Dedede fiercely begrudges him most of the time.
** Back in ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar'', Meta Knight went ballistic and attempted to send Kirby down with the Halberd after undoing his plans to take charge of Dream Land. Nowadays, they're somewhere between rivals and friends outright.
** When Magolor returns in ''Kirby's Dream Collection'' [[spoiler:after trying to ''kill'' Kirby and friends, having manipulated them for his own ends,]] with no ill intent, it's essentially water under the bridge.
** Even after everything Susie has done, Kirby is still worried about her when she [[spoiler:gets knocked out by Star Dream]] in ''Planet Robobot''.
** Despite Marx using Kirby and wishing to rule Popstar in, then trying to get rid of Kirby as a loose end, Kirby lets him join up in ''Star Allies'' as a Dream Friend. It may have something to do with Marx's love of food and people who give it to him, according to a Pause screen blurb.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Tomatoes, especially Maxim Tomatoes which fully heal his HP. In the anime, it was watermelons instead.
* ATragedyOfImpulsiveness:
** In ''Kirby's Adventure'', this is the cause of Kirby's NiceJobBreakingItHero above.
** In the [[AlternateContinuity Subspace]] [[VideoGame/TheSubspaceEmissary Emissary]] of ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl'', at one point, he sees King Dedede with the cargo of captured heroes and gives chase, not bothering to wait for the princess accompanying him who becomes separated accidentally allowing a chance for her to be kidnapped by [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Bowser]].
* TransformationSequence: Whenever he copies an ability, although it's quicker than most examples. It's made more elaborate in the anime, as well as with the Super Abilities in ''Return to Dream Land''. A variant is for the Friend Abilities in ''Star Allies'', especially the ones that mix an element into a weapon ability.
* UnwittingPawn: Kirby's naivete makes it easy for others to play him like a fiddle:
** [[spoiler:In ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar''[='s=] Milky Way Wishes, Marx tells Kirby to use Nova to stop the sun and moon from fighting each other. Kirby gathers the energy to summon Nova, only for his wish to be stolen at the last second by Marx (who was the cause of the sun and moon's fighting in the first place).]]
** [[spoiler:In ''VideoGame/KirbysReturnToDreamLand'', Magolor tricks Kirby into defeating a dragon named Landia to obtain the Master Crown for him, Magolor wants to use it to try and take over the universe and [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Landia]] was the only thing keeping him from doing so.]]
** [[spoiler:In ''VideoGame/KirbyPlanetRobobot'', Kirby's victory over Haltmann is used by Susie as an opportunity to steal Star Dream from him, with Kirby none the wiser. That plan goes out the window when Star Dream goes rogue, however.]]
* VacuumMouth: His signature "Inhale" ability.
* WaddlingHead: Kirby and his species. Also a common trait of many creatures on the Planet Popstar.
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: According to a number of official sources, he's afraid of capillers, which damage him when inhaled. In the Super Star Ultra blooper reel, one falling on him while he's napping causes him to panic and faint.
* WouldHitAGirl: Kirby doesn't encounter female enemies very often, but when he does, he clearly doesn't pull any punches. Just ask Drawcia, [[spoiler:Queen Sectonia]], Susie, and the three Jambastion Mages.
* YouAreWhoYouEat: Kirby takes this saying quite literally.
* YourSizeMayVary: Kirby's bio in ''Super Smash Bros.'' and his trophy in ''Melee'' claim he's 8 inches tall, but in ''Kirby 64'', he's only a few inches shorter than Adeleine, an average human girl. In ''Kirby's Dream Land 3'', he stands at a similar height compared to Ado, while also standing higher than the knees of the 6-foot-tall [[Franchise/{{Metroid}} Samus Aran]], which would put him closer to 2 or 3 feet tall. This is compounded by the fact that Kirby is larger in the Smash Bros. series than in his home game.

* AbsenteeActor:
** He's completely absent in ''VideoGame/KirbyAndTheAmazingMirror'', not even as a cameo.
** In ''VideoGame/TeamKirbyClashDeluxe'' and ''VideoGame/SuperKirbyClash'', no mention is ever given to him; however, [[spoiler:the TrueFinalBoss is a variant of him called King D-Mind]].
* {{Acrofatic}}: Depending on the game, he can be pretty agile despite his size.
* ActuallyADoombot: The first encounter with him and Meta Knight in ''Kirby Fighters 2'' turns out to be a pair of Waddle Dees in disguise.
* ADayInTheLimelight: ''Triple Deluxe'' is where he gets quite some spotlight despite not being the villain. He gets kidnapped in the opening and becomes Kirby's motivation for the game. [[spoiler:He then gets BrainwashedAndCrazy and is fought as a ClimaxBoss. After Kirby BeatTheCurseOutOfHim, Dedede then helps Kirby reach Sectonia's OneWingedAngel form and then releases Kirby from Sectonia's clutch to save him. The final narration even notes Dedede's contribution to the whole story as it notes that the Dreamstalk (which, despite the People of the Sky expecting Kirby as their hero, lifts Dedede's castle as well as Kirby's house) works InMysteriousWays.]] He even gets his own extra mode, something that Meta Knight had done twice before.
* AdiposeRex: You would be hard-pressed to find a fatter individual in Dream Land, and none of them are claiming to be royalty either.
* AffablyEvil: He's not really that bad a guy, he's just vain, extremely greedy, and occasionally mean-spirited. Of course, that doesn't mean he's not affable -- in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl'', he hugs Kirby towards the end of The Subspace Emissary when he realizes he's alright.
* AmbiguousSpecies: He definitely looks like a penguin, but it's questionable if he's even a ''bird''. Unlike a penguin, he can fly, doesn't appear to have feathers, and his feet being attached to his body seemingly without legs may be because of art style more than anything. One official guide calls him a "regal eagle", but likely wasn't meant to be taken literally. As far as we know he's a [[ShapedLikeItself Dedede]].
* AnAxeToGrind: In ''Triple Deluxe'', his hammer winds up being broken [[spoiler:during a fight with Kirby when Taranza's using him as a puppet]], so he rips a battle-axe taller than he is off a nearby statue and showcases that he's every bit as proficient with it as he is with his hammer.
* AnotherSideAnotherStory: He gets his own "extra mode" run in form of Dededetour! in ''Triple Deluxe''. He's described as going on his own adventure to stop [[spoiler:Queen Sectonia and her rule]] (and either stop [[spoiler:her from ruling Dream Land]], or try to take over Floralia as part of his territory).
* AntiHero: He's more commonly this than an outright villain. He's selfish, greedy, and tends not to hesitate when it comes to clobbering Kirby when their interests don't align, but he's never really gotten to the point of being ''evil''. As far back as ''Kirby's Adventure'', Dedede's been proactively defending Dream Land from much worse threats (when he's not being possessed by them) in his own unscrupulous ways, and more modern games seem to forgo Dedede's animosity with Kirby entirely in favor of portraying him as one of Kirby's TrueCompanions.
* AntiVillain: In ''Kirby's Adventure'', ''Dream Land 2'', and ''Dream Land 3''.
* ArchEnemy: Most likely due to longevity. He is not Kirby's ''worst'' enemy, but he is the most common.
* TheAtoner: His Guest Star description in ''Star Allies'' mentions that he goes on a journey to save his people and to clean his name (presumably after being BrainwashedAndCrazy).
* ArtEvolution: His design has changed quite a bit over the years, but the 3D games in particular seem to update his design with each new console generation. ''Return To Dream Land's'' design was basically a 3D version of his old design from the GBA and DS games, his ''Triple Deluxe'' and ''Planet Robobot'' designs changed his facial structure with a differently-shaped beak and his eyes being further apart, and ''Star Allies'' changes his face again to be more expressive while modifying his proportions to resemble his appearance in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros''
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: He may be [[AuthorityInNameOnly a self-proclaimed king]], but a good deal of games demonstrate he's not afraid to [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething show off just what he can do]], be it [[AntiVillain fighting against Kirby]] or [[AntiHero defending Dream Land]]. Especially seen in ''Triple Deluxe''[='=]s [[BonusDungeon Dededetour]] where he defeats [[spoiler:Queen Sectonia DX (a more powerful version of the original); Shadow Dedede (a dark doppelganger made by the Dimensional Mirror); and Dark Meta Knight -- (who defeated Meta Knight on his own but is now powered by the Dimensional Mirror with a plentiful supply of new abilities).]] '''ALL IN A ROW. ''BY HIMSELF.'''''
* AuthorityInNameOnly: Besides his soldiers and servants, no one respects his rule. Not even his "friends", since Meta Knight tried to overthrow him in ''Revenge of Meta Knight'', while Whispy Woods and Kracko show no qualms in attacking the king in ''Return to Dream Land'' and ''Triple Deluxe'', respectively. In fact, officially he has no actual power and his edicts go unheeded by the people of Dream Land. Also implied to be the case in the anime. However, CharacterDevelopment as a result of being possessed and beaten repeately has made him decide to get stronger and attempt to improve his reputation, so that maybe the people of Dream Land will eventually start treating him like a real leader.
* BadassBaritone: In games where he is voiced, Dedede is liable to have a bellowing, kingly voice. It's greatly emphasized by his tendency to [[RoarBeforeBeating roar]], and he indeed has the strength to back it up.
* BadassInDistress: In ''Triple Deluxe'', Kirby's mission is to save him.
* BeatTheCurseOutOfHim: [[VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand2 Whenever]] [[VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand3 he]] [[VideoGame/Kirby64TheCrystalShards gets]] [[VideoGame/KirbyStarAllies possessed]], this is usually how he's saved.
* BecomingTheMask: Despite the AuthorityInNameOnly status as listed above, and Dedede largely initially just claiming kingship as an excuse to do whatever he wants, he's actually surprisingly dedicated to the role of King in multiple series entries, even having shown signs as early as ''Adventure'' in making the [[IDidWhatIHadToDo hard choice]] of breaking up the Star Rod to protect Dream Land. His other feats in the name of acting as King include diplomatically aiding both Ribbon and Magolor of other worlds when they ended up stranded on Popstar, aiding the Floralians and later acting to free them of his own accord, and even his Guest Star mode in ''Star Allies'' is Dedede attempting to prove that he can protect his kingdom. Such actions might well be part of the reason why nobody has actually contested his claim of kingship and just sort of let him retain it.
* BewareTheSillyOnes: He may appear goofy and serve as PluckyComicRelief from time to time, but underestimate him at your own will; for as his skill with the [[DropTheHammer hammer]] (which he wields almost flawlessly) is enough to show why he should be respected as the ([[AuthorityInNameOnly self-proclaimed]]) [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething king of Dream Land]].
* BigBad: Of the original game, Spring Breeze in ''Kirby Super Star'', and Revenge of the King in ''Ultra''. Also is the villain in most spinoffs such as ''Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble'', ''Kirby's Dream Course'', '' Kirby's Super Star Stacker'', ''Kirby Fighters Deluxe'', ''VideoGame/KirbysBlowoutBlast'' and [[spoiler:''Videogame/KirbyBattleRoyale''. Appears to be the BigBad of several other games as well, but actually isn't, for various reasons.]]
* BigBadDuumvirate: He and Meta Knight team up to take down Kirby in the story mode of ''Kirby Fighters 2''.
* BigEater: Not shown doing this as often as Kirby (due to not being the focal point of the series), but Dedede can pack it away as much as his [[FriendlyEnemy friend/foe]]. There's a reason that the plot of the very first game kicked off with Dedede stealing all of Dream Land's food, and the same reason is why he's Kirby's opponent in Gourmet Race.
* BigFun: When he's not doing something bad, anyway.
* BigGood: [[spoiler:Believe it or not, of ''VideoGame/TheSubspaceEmissary'' - had it not been for his reviving brooches, Tabuu [[TheBadGuyWins would've won]]. In fact, if that game was your introduction to his character, you'd be forgiven for assuming that he was one of Kirby's biggest allies, considering how friendly he acts towards him]].
* BlackHoleBelly: Dedede's range and power for his VacuumMouth is even greater than Kirby's, and he'll even demonstrate it by inhaling Kirby if given the chance.
* BossSubtitles: "His Royal Nemesis, King Dedede" in ''Kirby Star Allies''.
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: So, so often, usually by DemonicPossession.
** [[VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand2 By]] [[VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand3 Dark]] [[VideoGame/Kirby64TheCrystalShards Matter]], complete with BellyMouth and EyesDoNotBelongThere. Also [[VideoGame/KirbyMassAttack Necrodeus]] (presumably).
** In ''Epic Yarn'', he gets turned into yarn and is forced to fight Kirby with [[PeoplePuppets marionette-like strings on his body]], courtesy of Yin-Yarn. [[spoiler:The marionette strings part is also done by [[VideoGame/KirbyTripleDeluxe Taranza]] in his game's climax.]]
** Happens again in ''Star Allies'', this time with the added side effect of making him absurdly muscular. After you BeatTheCurseOutOfHim, you can add him to your team in the Dream Palace or by throwing a Friend Heart at him.
* BurningWithAnger: Occasionally in ''Kirby's Dream Land 2'', he will go into a rage that will make his next attack highly explosive.
* ButtMonkey: If it's not happening to Kirby, it's happening to Dedede.
* TheCaligula: He's a pretty selfish, greedy, and gluttonous king who acts entirely on his whims. He's also a JerkWithAHeartOfGold, however, and can at times [[PetTheDog be pretty nice]]. And he does care for his kingdom, which shows whenever it gets threatened.
* CantCatchUp: He learned to duplicate Kirby's flight after his first defeat, while Kirby learned to run as fast as Dedede ''and'' copy powers.
* CartoonCreature: It's not clear what he's supposed to be, but some elements of his design seem to indicate he's a penguin.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: From being a BigBad in the very first game, to a [[spoiler:WellIntentionedExtremist]] in ''Adventure'', to a reluctant ally in ''Crystal Shards'', to become an outright good guy in ''Return to Dream Land'' onwards. Inbetween, though, he might sometimes get BrainwashedAndCrazy or [[DemonicPossession possessed]], or be the major antagonist in the spinoffs, showing the "enemy" part of his relationship with Kirby. It's pretty telling that when he (once again) steals all the food in Dream Land at the start of ''Star Allies'', it's noted that this is ''horribly'' out of character for him, [[DramaticIrony despite the fact that]] [[VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand this was his first ever scheme.]]
* CharlesAtlasSuperpower: According to his trophy information in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosMelee'', he underwent training to learn how to inhale air to float like Kirby after his first defeat. As we can see, the training paid off.
* CoolMask: He dons an intimidating mask as Masked Dedede, and he usually goes all out in the battles where he's wearing it.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: He's a greedy, gluttonous bumbler who seemingly exists to either take the blame for what another villain has done or be possessed by them. He is also at the same time one of the most powerful individuals in Dream Land, a fighter on the same level as Kirby and Meta Knight, and actually ''incredibly'' clever when the situation calls for it.
* DemotedToExtra:
** He only appears as a clay sculpture and a doodle (in Elline's diary) in ''Rainbow Curse'' (and Kirby can wear his hat with a Dedede amiibo), having no appearance in the game's story.
** In ''Planet Robobot'', he only makes an appearance in the intro and the ending, as well as a set of stickers. [[spoiler:However, clones of his DNA appear as a boss battle]].
* DiscOneFinalBoss: in ''Kirby's Adventure'' and ''Kirby's Dream Land 2'' and ''3''.
* DistressedDude: In ''Triple Deluxe'', he gets kidnapped by the spider mage Taranza for an unknown reason.
* DropTheHammer: [[WeaponOfChoice Rarely seen without it.]]
* DualBoss: He finally fights alongside Meta Knight in ''Kirby Fighters 2'', complete with new team attacks that they perform together.
* EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference: Dedede's torso and abdomen was colored fully blue just like his head in earlier games, and he didn't wear gloves. ''Kirby Super Star'' was the first game to give him gloves and a cream-colored body as opposed to a blue one. Despite this, he still retained his old look in ''Dream Land 2'', ''Dream Land 3'', ''Kirby 64'', and even the anime. It wasn't until ''Nightmare in Dream Land'' where he would permanently keep his ''Super Star'' design. (However, his blue-bodied design does show up occasionally, such as his figurine in ''Kirby and the Rainbow Curse'' and his artwork for ''Play Nintendo''). ''Star Allies'' shows that his cream colored body is really a shirt or a vest, akin to how he looks in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' (where he wears a yellow yukata as undershirt), implying that his outfit was simply updated over time.
* EnergyBall: [[spoiler:Masked Dedede's Revenge, as well as Shadow Dedede, can shoot these from their axe.]] Star Rod-Hammer Dedede uses the power of Star Rod to make his hammer shoot balls of light. [[spoiler:Dedede Clone can also utilize it.]]
* ErmineCapeEffect: Whether or not he's a king, he looks quite the part - with a NiceHat, gloves, a fancy red coat and the belly band-like sash.
* EverythingsBetterWithPenguins: Maybe. He looks an awful lot like one, but is never actually stated to be one (a fact that's lampshaded in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl'' during [[VideoGame/MetalGear Snake]]'s codec conversation about him).
* EvilCounterpart: To Kirby, being a VillainousGlutton. Later appearances emphasized this by giving Dedede aerial abilities. [[spoiler:Shadow Dedede]] serves as one to him in ''Triple Deluxe''.
* EvilKnockoff: In ''Planet Robobot'', [[spoiler:the Haltmann Works Company use a sample of his DNA to create a series of Dedede Clones.]]
* ExtremeOmnivore: At least in the ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' series, where he'll eat almost any item in the games if you make him inhale it.
* FaceFault: An unusual, but just as goofy example, as it's one of Dedede's signature attacks. Akin to a penguin sliding on its belly, he often dashes forward, trips, and skids face-first across the ground. Surprisingly, up until ''Star Allies'', it was completely absent from his moveset as a player character.
* FatalFlaw: Greed, though he's [[CharacterizationMarchesOn mellowed out considerably in recent years]]. ''Star Allies'' implies he still has some greedy tendencies, as the Jamba Heart (which [[TheCorruption exaggerates a person's worst qualities]]) causes him to [[CallBack (once again)]] steal all of Dream Land's food. He's just learned to keep his behavior in check.
* FatBastard: He has stolen ''all'' the food in Dream Land, twice. Though he is fat because he is a greedy over-eater, as of ''Kirby's Adventure'' he trained to duplicate Kirby's flight, so he must eat enough to stay fat despite his work.
* AFatherToHisMen: He seems to actually care very much about his Waddle Dees.
* FlyingFlightlessBird: Just like Kirby, he can fly by sucking up air, despite the fact that he is (possibly) a penguin.
* FunWithAcronyms: Interestingly played with in regards to his name. [[spoiler:In ''Planet Robobot'' Japanese version, in the 5th world's boss stage, Susie is talking about the "product" that she'll show Kirby; she described it - [[GratuitousEnglish in English]] - as "Dangerous", "Deadly" and "Deluxe". Then she reveals it to be the Dedede Clone. And when you beat the clones in the second phase (with the D3 Cannon), said clones explode, each forming the letter "D" in sparkles.]]
* GadgeteerGenius: He's prone to occasionally employ technology for his ends, from rocket launchers to HumongousMecha.
* GoKartingWithBowser: This is pretty much what Gourmet Race is.
* TheGoodKing: Downplayed. Greedy face-stuffer that he is, he's been known to occasionally try his hand at a noble action or two, usually helping Kirby out with his abilities or so. He's especially protective of "his" Dream Land despite robbing its people of their food at least twice. It's also noted that his Waddle Dee subjects are quite fond of him, and deep down he loves them as well.
* HalfDressedCartoonAnimal: His early design only had him wearing a robe and sash on his body. His later design would give him a [[BarefootCartoonAnimal cream colored yakuta]], which is made a lot more apparent in ''Star Allies''.
* HarmlessVillain: Dedede's not really bad ([[AlternateUniverse except in the anime]]), he's just big and greedy so Kirby has to bring him down to earth. In fact, he's been known to give Kirby giant hugs.
* HeelFaceTurn: ''Kirby's Super Star Ultra'' marked a permanent change in the status quo (an incredibly unusual thing for a series so light on continuity) by finally ending Kirby's rivalry with Dedede ([[FriendlyRivalry at least the genuinely hostile aspects of it]]) and changing them from "enemies" (and occasionally [[EnemyMine reluctant allies]] as in ''Kirby 64'') to "friends". ''Return of the King'' is the final game in which Dedede plays the role of an antagonist knowingly and cognizantly; after his defeat here, from ''Return to Dream Land'' onward Dedede has abandoned virtually all reluctance or hostility with Kirby and was thrust into the spotlight as one of the main protagonists in his own right.
* HiddenDepths: [[VideoGame/KirbyPlanetRobobot Apparently, he's into]] TabletopGame/{{chess}}.
* HulkingOut: ''Star Allies'' has Dedede's corruption turn him into a gorilla-like creature, complete with barrel chest and big, musclebound arms ([[TopHeavyGuy and with his legs still small]]). He throws food and climbs the columns of his castle like a gorilla as well. It's a reference to one of the anime's episodes.
* HypocriticalHeartwarming: In ''VideoGame/KirbysEpicYarn'', he sees a group of Yarn Waddle Dees having tied up his own Waddle Dees. He then proclaims that only he can be mean to his Waddle Dees.
* ImpossiblyCoolWeapon: In ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'', his hammer has a '''[[RocketPoweredWeapon jet engine]]''' for the sole purpose of swinging extremely strong hits. In "Revenge of the King" in ''Kirby Super Star Ultra'', Masked Dedede has an even cooler new hammer. Aside from also having the jet engine, it can [[MacrossMissileMassacre launch missiles]], [[FireBreathingWeapon shoot a gout of flame]], and be used for an extreme SpinAttack.
* InterfaceScrew: He in ''Kirby Fighters Deluxe'' can throw out Dedede keychains towards the screen to obscure it.
* {{Jerkass}}: In the spinoffs and the anime. Also in the original game, one of the few games in which he's not a good guy, [[BrainwashedAndCrazy possessed]] or a WellIntentionedExtremist. He just steals everyone's food for no real reason, apparently, as he's never shown eating it. Okay, he is on the second time around in ''Super Star''.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold:
** In ''Kirby 64'', he's still a jerk but ultimately means well.
** Same thing in ''Kirby's Adventure'', where the only reason he was opposing Kirby was to protect Dream Land from [[spoiler:Nightmare]], who was still sealed in the fountain.
* JigglePhysics: {{Played for laughs}} in the trailer for Kirby's 20th anniversary. After making the jump to the 3rd dimension, Dedede strikes a pose with Kirby and Meta Knight, and notices that his belly jiggles; he then proceeds to look at his stomach crossly, and poke it with the haft of his hammer.
* {{Leitmotif}}:
** The Mt. Dedede theme from ''Kirby's Dream Land'' was eventually [[BootstrappedTheme Bootstrapped]] into his personal music by ''Super Star'', and has since been used as such by nearly every game since.[[note]]It fails to appear in ''Avalanche'' and ''The Crystal Shards'', and is instead used as the miniboss tower theme in ''Adventure''.[[/note]]
** The popular "Gourmet Race" theme from ''Super Star'' got re-orchestrated for ''Nightmare in Dream Land'' into his Boss theme when they duel at the Fountain of Dreams.
* LargeAndInCharge: He is not the largest creature in Dream Land (his larger friend, Whispy Woods, is a frequent sight), but he is larger than most of his army and the rest of the creatures he claims to rule over.
* LeftStuckAfterAttack: In ''Star Allies'', when he does his falling smash attack with his enlarged arms, he may sometimes get his arms stuck on the ground, leaving him open to attack.
* LetsGetDangerous: As Masked Dedede, he tends to be far more serious (and [[ThatOneBoss difficult]]) than when he's just regular Dedede. This also extends [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ju-00VrNvE&ab_channel=SuperRayman001 to his boss theme]], which is a faster paced and more intense remix of his normal boss theme.
* LovableJock: Despite being selfish, greedy, and above all gluttonous, he's not really such a bad guy deep down. He's also [[{{Acrofatic}} surprisingly athletic despite his girth]] as indicated by the Snack Tracks race and his boxing match like fight with Kirby in Revenge Of The King.
* MagicVersusScience: Downplayed. By and large, King Dedede has a specific preference for technological enhancements and weaponry, even as far back as his missile launcher from ''Block Ball'' and his HumongousMecha Robo Dedede in ''Dream Course'' [[spoiler:and Dededestroyer Z in ''Battle Royale'']]. Usually he only uses magic or magic-like abilities when under the influence of DemonicPossession; he has, however, used a power-up from the Fountain of Dreams in ''Fighters Deluxe''.
* MakeMyMonsterGrow: Makes himself somewhat larger in ''Kirby Fighters Deluxe'' upon defeating his Combo Dedede backup. Then in ''Kirby's Blowout Blast'' he goes full-on AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever with the power of the Sparkling Star.
* MaskPower:
** ''Kirby Super Star Ultra'' features the unlockable "Revenge of the King" segment, which is a Hard Mode-style rerun of "Spring Breeze" (remember how ''Kirby's Dream Land'' had a Hard Mode?). King Dedede has clearly taken a leaf out of Meta Knight's book for the occasion, going so far as to give himself a steel mask that obscures everything except his eyes. He's a '''lot''' harder than he was before.
** [[spoiler:This form of Dedede makes a return in ''Triple Deluxe'', and has been improved even further]].
** He can don the mask in ''Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe'', though all it does is add a sound effect during backbeat combos.
** [[spoiler:Then in ''Kirby's Blowout Blast'', he combines the mask with MakeMyMonsterGrow in the Secret Path final boss, becoming Giant Masked Dedede. Here, the mask actually helps him protecting his face from weak star shots; Kirby has to inhale a lot of stars at once to actually hurt him.]]
** In ''Battle Royale'' it's also one of the unlockable costumes.
** He also puts it on for his Final Smash in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate''.
** [[spoiler:''Kirby Fighters 2'' gives him a new mask with a lunar motif known as the "Mask of Dark Bonds", which he wears with Meta Knight to increase their power together.]]
* MoralityPet: While he can be pretty mean at times, he genuinely cares for his Waddle Dees, who adore him in kind.
* MouthyBird: [[ZigzaggedTrope Zigzagged]]. Averted the earliest games where he was shown almost exclusively from the side which emphasized his relatively normal and unmouth-like beak. Once ArtEvolution kicked in, he started being shown more from the front, which made him fall into a type 2, right down to having [[ToothyBird teeth]] in some depictions, particularly the anime. Currently it's [[DownplayedTrope downplayed]] with his current 3D model which, while still plenty expressive, is stiffer and longer, making it generally more evocative of his early more bird-like beak.
* NoPronunciationGuide: Is it "dee-dee-dee" or "day-day-day"? Seems to depend mostly on region. Most English-speaking territories use the former; Japan as well as Italian-, French-, and Spanish-speaking countries use the latter. It seems both are correct, because the announcer of ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl'' pronounces his name ''both'' ways depending on your game's region. Additionally, if the crowd begins chanting his name, they'll alternate between the pronunciations.
* NotMeThisTime: After [[EstablishingCharacterMoment stealing all the food in Dream Land]] and then taking a bath in the sacred Fountain of Dreams, Kirby tends to view Dedede with suspicion. Predictably, games after that (with few exceptions) never show him being the actual villain. In fact, when he pulls one of his old schemes at the start of ''Star Allies'', the pause screen descriptions imply that Kirby is ''confused'' by this, meaning it's gotten to the point where Dedede isn't even considered a villain by Kirby anymore.
* OhCrap: His reaction when things go wrong. Like when Kirby shows up to rescue the trophies in the ''Subspace Emissary'' [[spoiler:or when Kirby accidentally awakens Nightmare.]]
* PenguinsAreDucks: He is implied to be a penguin, yet he resembles a duck more due to his feet, his beak being rounded (although they do resemble lips sometimes, as mentioned above), and as mentioned above, he can fly by inhaling enough air.
* PokeThePoodle: Any genuine villainy he performs always ends up being this. He's always more of a nuisance than an actual threat to Dream Land.
* PowerupMount: Plays this role for his sections in ''Kirby 64'', as well as ''Return to Dream Land'' (the other playable characters can also serve as this in said game); with his brute strength and hammer, Dedede can bust down walls for Kirby.
* PowersViaPossession: Dedede's repeated possessions during the Dark Matter trilogy featured his body exhibiting strange abilities like floating through the air like a dangled puppet, shooting dark {{Energy Ball}}s from an eye that popped out of his stomach, or developing a ravenous BellyMouth. [[spoiler:Shadow Dedede of ''Triple Deluxe'' has these same powers but developed to a much more advanced degree. The game's commentary about the "darkness in his heart" could be an implication that Shadow Dedede was possessed by an alternate version of Dark Matter (implied to be Dark Mind) for ''far'' too long]].
* PreFinalBoss:
** King Dedede himself appears as the DiscOneFinalBoss of ''VideoGame/KirbysAdventure'', ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand2'' and ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand3''. In the first game, he turns out to be the DiscOneFinalBoss who actually tried to prevent the ''real'' BigBad, the Nightmare, from corrupting the Fountain of Dreams, while in the latter two games he's the victim of the DemonicPossession via Dark Matter (however, if the player did not [[GottaCatchThemAll collect all pieces]] of the game's respective [[EleventhHourSuperpower final weapons]] (Rainbow Drops in ''2'', Heart Stars in ''3''), he will end up being the game's FinalBoss, with the bad ending playing).
** [[spoiler:In ''Triple Deluxe'' he's fought as Masked Dedede while being controlled by Taranza before Queen Sectonia is fought.]]
* RecurringBossTemplate: Whenever he doesn't appear as a boss (and/or he's playable), there'll usually be another boss made in his likeness, namely [[spoiler:Shadow Dedede, Dedede Clone, King D-Mind, and]] Parallel Dedede.
* RedemptionDemotion:
** Downplayed. As of ''Return to Dream Land'', King Dedede's fully playable self utilizes a modified version of the Hammer Copy Ability, as opposed to any of the attacks he's usually seen using. He does, at least, have a few extra tricks: he can freely spam his Hammer Throw (although the damage is lessened), and in ''Triple Deluxe'' he can launch a slicing beam out of his hammer as a ranged attack to cut ropes.
** Though Star Allies got rid of the beam, wind on his spinning attacks, and the fire for Hammer Twirl, he's even larger than Bonkers and has unique attacks like his FaceFault and (after an update) his super jump from just about every boss battle. Both are completely invincible and can ensure he stays completely unharmed through a long fall, and the slide move gets a surprising amount of distance. If anything, they're ''improved''!
* RobotMe: Mecha Dedede in ''Dream Course'' and Robo Dedede in ''Return to Dream Land's'' Scope Shot minigame. There's also HR-D3 in ''Mass Attack'' [[spoiler:and ''Return to Dream Land's'' Extra Mode, although in the latter, its color scheme more resembles Metal General EX and even has his head instead of Dedede's VSign logo.]] [[spoiler:''Battle Royale'' also has Dededestroyer Z, a mech that Dedede himself drives as the FinalBoss]].
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: While some may question his "King" title from time to time, there's no question that he's quite active when something big happens.
* SelfDuplication: He's cloned himself in ''Kirby Fighters Deluxe''. He can have up to 63 of them depending of how much continues you used and the difficulty level. [[spoiler:''Planet Robobot'' has his clone being able to split into 3 as it takes damage.]]
* ShockAndAwe: In ''Kirby's Pinball Land'' he can fire lightning from his hands to disable one of flippers. [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment It was never explained how he was able to use this attack and he never used it ever since in any other games.]]
* ShockwaveStomp: One of his moves from the very beginning has been a huge leap that ends with stars very forcefully flying from his feet when he lands. A bit of HoistByHisOwnPetard in this case, as Kirby can inhale those and fire them back at Dedede. When the devs need the battle to be harder, though, he also produces ripples of energy, proper shockwaves that can actually hurt Kirby.
* SlideAttack: In addition to the sliding kick that playable characters have, Dedede sometimes kicks off the ground to slide a little further for his FaceFault attack. He slides a fair distance when using it as a playable character, too.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: On occasion, such as the end of the Extra Game in ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand'', his name is spelled "[=DeDeDe=]".
** The blurb on the back of the ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand3'' box has this hilarious nugget:
--> "''With all those friends, two-player simultaneous play and many other helpful surprises, Kirby should have no trouble saving Dream Land again, right? Not if '''Kind Dedede''' has anything to say about it!''"
* SpamAttack:
** [[spoiler:As Masked Dedede's Revenge, one of his moves is just him wildly swinging his axe around multiple times. Shadow Dedede can do the same thing, which lasts longer.]]
** In ''Kirby Fighters Deluxe'' this is one of his new moves he can do after he TurnsRed. [[spoiler:He has the "furious axe swings" move that Masked Dedede's Revenge and Shadow Dedede has, only with his hammer.]] He also moves back and forth as he repeatedly slams his hammer in front of him before leaping up for a massive smash that creates a shockwave. [[spoiler:Dedede Clones, after they split, can do this as well.]]
* SpinAttack: He originally doesn't have one, but he can do it when he's playable. Masked Dedede, [[spoiler:his "Revenge" version in ''Triple Deluxe'', Shadow Dedede]] and Star Rod-Hammer Dedede can do it as well.
* StoutStrength:
** Despite being pudgy, anyone who can swing that hammer with such force has to be strong. ''VideoGame/KirbyPlanetRobobot'' calls him one of the strongest lifeforms on Planet Popstar.
** While a spinoff game, In ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl'' during the Subspace Emissary, King Dedede goes toe-to-toe with [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Bowser]], one of (if not the physically strongest) character in the Mario franchise, and King Dedede canonically ''wins''.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Meat, every cutscene of him eating has at least one instance of him chowing down on CartoonMeat.
* ThrowDownTheBomblet: In ''VideoGame/KirbyMassAttack'' he also throws bombs.
* TrainingFromHell: King Dedede has always been able to mimic Kirby's [[VacuumMouth Inhale]] ability but, according to his trophy description in ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosMelee Melee]]'', intense training between ''Kirby's Dream Land'' and ''Kirby's Adventure'' was what allowed him to learn to fly like Kirby.
* ATwinkleInTheSky: [[spoiler:Happens to him in Kirby Fighters Deluxe and VideoGame/KirbyBattleRoyale, when you land the final blow on him in the former after a fight against Team DDD, and when his Dededestroyer Z's explosion launches him in the latter after you defeat it. Also happens to the Dedede Clones, although they don't simply twinkle - instead they explode in a D-shaped blast each.]]
* VacuumMouth: He's able to inhale things the same way Kirby can, but he's unable to use Copy Abilities because he's [[Videogame/SuperSmashBros "already perfect"]].
* VideogameFlight: Like Kirby, he flies by inflating his stomach and flapping.
* VillainForgotToLevelGrind: [[TookALevelInBadass Averted continuously]] by Dedede. Every time he returns to fight Kirby ([[DemonicPossession and isn't being directly possessed by Dark Matter or some such]]), he ''always'' brings something new to the table. Most notably shown in ''Kirby's Adventure'' after training himself to learn Kirby's techniques, ''Revenge of the King'' with his Masked Dedede state, in ''Kirby Fighters Deluxe'' wherein he empowers himself via the Star Rod, and in ''Kirby's Blowout Blast'' where he becomes gigantic. Played painfully straight in ''Squeak Squad'' where he ends up being the very first boss, but even there he [[FlunkyBoss summons]] [[{{Mook}} Parasol Waddle Dees]] (which Kirby may choose to inhale and shoot back at him, whereas back in ''Adventure'' he didn't do anything of the sort).
* VillainousBreakdown: In the first game, he throws a ''violent'' tantrum upon being defeated in the Normal Mode of the game, leading into the game's Extra Mode. After beating that mode too however, he enters [[DespairEventHorizon a different type of breakdown.]]
* VillainousGlutton: Again, his debut saw him abscond with all the food in the land for his own pleasure. This first impression has effectively colored all of his relations with Kirby since.
* WantsAPrizeForBasicDecency: A possible interpretation of his actions in ''Kirby's Adventure'' (and ''[[VideoGameRemake Nightmare in Dream Land]]''). For having [[spoiler:secured a SealedEvilInACan]], Dedede apparently decided himself entitled to use [[HolyGround the Fountain of Dreams]] as his own personal swimming pool.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: Played this part in ''Kirby's Adventure'', as well as the remake Nightmare in Dream Land, where it seems like he was up to standard villainy by stealing the Star Rod from the Fountain of Dreams, but it is later revealed that he had a very ''good'' reason for doing so: [[spoiler:as a horrifically evil entity, aptly named "Nightmare", had contaminated the Fountain of Dreams and threatened to escape out of it; Dedede removing the Star Rod prevented Nightmare from breaking out, at the cost of the people in Dream Land being unable to have restful sleep]].
* WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer: In ''Dededetour'', his hammer abilities are improved so his hammer can solve any puzzle in the game (except for the Hypernova sections). Such as how his Hammer Swing can put out flame blocks or he gains a new ChargedAttack where he launches a "hammer beam" (that works like Archer Kirby's arrow) that cuts ropes.
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: The bio for [[spoiler:Dedede Clone 2.0]] in ''Planet Robobot'' implies that the events of ''Triple Deluxe'' left him with a fear of [[spoiler:"a certain insect"[[note]]For those curious, it's a wasp.[[/note]]]].
* WorthyOpponent: He sees Kirby as this. In ''Revenge of the King'', he even makes sure Kirby is fighting on the same terms as him by refusing to fight until Kirby picks up his old hammer, in the same way Meta Knight does with the sword. Also, in ''Kirby Fighters Deluxe'', when the pause screen description for Team [=DDD64=] has him speak in first person, he sounds rather menacing and inviting at the same time.
* YourSizeMayVary: There's some difference as to how much bigger than Kirby Dedede really is. Classic Dedede is easily twice as tall as Kirby, while from ''Nightmare in Dream Land'' forward his was easily ''three'' times Kirby's height. He was briefly shrunk down to only a fraction taller than Kirby for ''Return to Dream Land'' and ''Triple Deluxe'', while ''Fighters Deluxe'' implicitly reconciled the difference by demonstrating him using the Fountain of Dreams' power to grow.

* TwentyFourHourArmor: He's never seen without his armor/mask. If it breaks, he retreats.
* AbsenteeActor:
** He's strangely absent during the games involving Dark Matter. You'd think he'd be the first person to help Kirby with such a threat. This may have something to do with their differing director (Shinichi Shimomura), and that Meta Knight's status as a major recurring character wasn't truly set up until ''Nightmare in Dream Land'' or so.
** He's also largely missing from ''Triple Deluxe'', only appearing through cameos (as keychains and one of Circus Kirby's balloons). [[spoiler:His mirror counterpart shows up as a surprise boss, though.]]
** More jarringly, there's no mention of him at all in ''VideoGame/TeamKirbyClashDeluxe''. In a fantasy spin-off where a knight would fit perfectly, not only does he not appear as a boss, he doesn't even get any gear that references him. [[spoiler:Not even Dark Meta Knight shows up, even though the "black mirror" plays a huge role in the game's plot.]] He does eventually appear in ''VideoGame/SuperKirbyClash'', but relegated to a mere background cameo rather than a major player.
* ActuallyADoombot: The first encounter with him and King Dedede in ''Kirby Fighters 2'' turns out to be a pair of Waddle Dees in disguise.
* AmbiguouslyRelated: Removing his mask reveals he look enough like Kirby to suggest they're the same species. What, if any, significance this has is unknown. Similarly, Galacta Knight and [[spoiler:Morpho Knight]] appear even more similar to Meta Knight than they do to Kirby.
* AnotherSideAnotherStory: The "Meta Knightmare" series are sub-games dedicated to playing the whole game in TimeTrial as Meta Knight who wishes to become stronger by undergoing the same challenges Kirby went through. The very first is a sub-game of ''Nightmare in Dream Land'' where he fights everyone including himself; he has lower health than Kirby but can run much faster. The second is Meta Knightmare Ultra (sub-game of ''Super Star Ultra'') where he plays in the first 5 sub-games (not including Gourmet Race) as he journeys to become stronger and find a worthy opponent. The third, Meta Knightmare Returns (sub-game of ''Planet Robobot'') has him fending off the Haltmann Works Company's invasion while Kirby takes a nap, and he'll fight stronger enemies and bosses along the way.
* AntiHero: He does a surprising amount of morally questionable things for such an adorable looking guy, but he does mean well.
* ArtEvolution:
** In ''Kirby's Adventure'', Meta Knight has a black body with a purple mask. ''Kirby's Avalanche'' changed it to the familiar navy and silver, which stuck with ''Super Star''.
** The design of Meta Knight's armor was highly variable in earlier games; in his sprites, he usually has silver shoulder plates, while in the anime and other official artwork they're a duller blue. In his sprites, his cape has a silver collar, but in the anime and official artwork it's cyan. It wasn't until ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl'' that the color scheme was finally standardized (duller blue shoulder plates with the silver collar). Official artwork also occasionally showed armored gauntlets and sabatons that weren't consistently depicted in-game until ''Smash 4''.
** In earlier games, Meta Knight's eyes were white under his mask due to technical limitations preventing his eyes from being colored yellow. ''Smash 4'' depicted them as yellow in Kirby's Meta Knight-based alternate costume, which were then adopted in the main series from ''Planet Robobot'' onwards.
* BadassAdorable: Made even more adorable by the fact that he tries to hide it with his mask.
* BadassBaritone: Courtesy of Eric Newsome, his voice can occasionally be portrayed as damn deep.
%%* BadassBookworm: If ''VideoGame/KirbysReturnToDreamLand'' is of any indication.
* BadassInDistress: In ''The Amazing Mirror'', he goes off to quell the threat, but is trapped inside the mirror instead.
%%* BigBad: Of the ''Revenge Of Meta Knight'' mode in ''Super Star''.
* BigBadDuumvirate: He and King Dedede team up to take down Kirby in the story mode of ''Kirby Fighters 2''.
%%* BigDamnHeroes: Every once in a while.
* BlackKnight: Enigmatic and almost never seen without his armor, though it's dark blue, purple, and grey, rather than black.
* BladeSpam: One of his sword attacks. ''Star Allies'' gives his boss version a new one: after slashing the enemy upward with a rising slash, he proceeds to TeleportSpam around the enemy as he slashes them from multiple angles.
* BlushStickers: In older games, he had these under his mask, just like Kirby, but from ''Planet Robobot'' onwards, they're absent.
* BloodKnight: Given the chance to wish for anything, Meta Knight's wish is to fight the galaxy's strongest warrior.
* BossSubtitles: "The Lone Swordsman, Meta Knight" in ''Kirby Star Allies''.
* BrainwashedAndCrazy:
** In ''Planet Robobot'', he is [[spoiler:[[UnwillingRoboticization rebuilt into the obedient villainous cyborg Mecha Knight]]]]. How does Kirby get him back to normal? Knocking off his mask, of course.
** Also in ''Star Allies'' courtesy of the Jamba Heart. After you BeatTheCurseOutOfHim, you can add him to your team by either throwing a [[HeelfaceBrainwashing Friend Heart]] at him or later at the Dream Palace.
* BreakoutCharacter: Originally he was just a boss in ''Kirby's Adventure'', but he was so popular that not only has he been one of the main recurring bosses in the series, but also PromotedToPlayable in some games.
* CapeWings: Most often, although in ''Kirby's Return to Dream Land'' he takes off his cape to reveal his wings.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: In his second major appearance -- ''[[VideoGame/KirbySuperStar Revenge of Meta Knight]]'' -- he comes off as far more hostile than his mysterious ally/rival characterization in later games. It helps that he's working to subjugate Dream Land to put it under a better leadership; he presumably just stops doing so after his defeat at Kirby's hands.
* CharClone: Lacks the usual color scheme, but embodies most of the other traits.
* TheComicallySerious: Whenever he's playable, he can be subjected to the same slapstick that happens to Kirby, and he'll shrug them all off like it's everyday business.
* CoolAirship: The Halberd. It has [[FaceShip Meta Knight's mask in the front]].
* CoolMask: He's nearly always seen wearing a mask that covers his face.
* CoolSword: Galaxia. He also had a sword called Master in ''[[VideoGame/KirbyAndTheAmazingMirror Amazing Mirror]]'', which he gives to Kirby as the EleventhHourSuperpower and then leaves in the Mirror World. Master could be Galaxia, before Nintendo settled on its proper name, as it is the same color, though it lacks Galaxia's jagged edges.
* CounterAttack: He gains a [[VideoGame/SuperSmashBros Smash Bros]] style counter move in Star Allies following an update.
* CyberCyclops: [[spoiler:Mecha Knight has a single robotic eye stuck in the middle of his mask. It can shoot EyeBeams.]]
* DarkIsNotEvil: In ''Super Smash Bros.'', his Final Smash is called "Galaxia Darkness", but Meta Knight is not evil and does not even take up an antagonistic role in the Subspace Emissary. He's also generally this in the games; gloomier than most things in Popstar, but he will try to save it from any kind of threat coming at him.
* DarthVaderClone: His CoolMask, sword and armor/cape, deep voice (mostly in ''Smash Bros.''), occasional roles as a WellIntentionedExtremist and TheDragon, and Star Destroyer-like Halberd are all reminiscent of Vader. This did not go unnoticed in the early days of ''Brawl'', and [[http://images1.fanpop.com/images/photos/2500000/Meta-Vader-super-smash-bros-brawl-2507730-640-480.jpg a Vader-inspired palette swap hack of Meta Knight]] popped up in the earliest days of ''Brawl'' hacking.
* DashingHispanic: His voice and mannerisms are suggestive of this. Especially after ''Kirby Right Back At Ya'' and ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl'' gave him a voice. His [[FragileSpeedster fighting style]] and [[WorthyOpponent code of honor]] also invoke this.
* DefeatingTheUndefeatable: His request when he is granted one wish? To have a duel with the greatest warrior the universe has ever known. He ''wins!''
* DemotedToExtra:
** He's just one of the possible keychains and Circus Kirby's balloon creations in ''Triple Deluxe''.
** Like King Dedede, he only appears as a sculpture and a drawing (in Elline's diary) in ''Rainbow Curse'', as well as being an amiibo costume.
* DishingOutDirt: In ''Star Allies'', after he TurnsRed, he can manipulate giant rocks to fall onto the arena in stacks. He then proceeds to SwordPlant through the rocks. Destroying the rocks before he could do so will [[LeftStuckAfterAttack have his sword stuck on the ground after he descends]].
* DontLookAtMe: During his time as a willing antagonist, the only thing that could make Meta Knight back off and flee from Kirby was breaking his mask, exposing his face that looks like a blue-skinned yellow-eyed PaletteSwap of the little guy, seemingly disliking people seeing him in such a non-threatening form.
* TheDragon: To King Dedede in ''Kirby's Adventure''.
* DualBoss: He and King Dedede fight alongside each other in ''Kirby Fighters 2'', complete with team attacks that they perform together.
* DuelBoss: Most of the time, he hands Kirby a sword to battle him with, facing him on equal footing. If he doesn't hand Kirby a sword, [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness it's probably a sign that something is very wrong]].
* EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference: In ''Adventure'' Meta Knight lacks his cape, has a black body, round hands and a purple mask, and lacks his shoulder armor. ''VideoGame/KirbysAvalanche'' and ''Super Star'' marks the debut of his more recognizable design; the silver mask, black shoulder armor, blue body and purple feet. Later on, the anime gives him his trademark cape, and ''Smash Bros.'' series gives more details to his armor, including the M in his shoulder armor, armored gauntlets, and purple sabatons covering his feet.
* EgocentricTeamNaming: Meta Knight's Meta-Knights.
* EvilCounterpart: Two of them: Dark Meta Knight and Galacta Knight, though no one is sure if Galacta is actually evil or not.
* EvilKnockoff: In ''Meta Knightmare Returns'', [[spoiler:he faces off against a mass-production version of Mecha Knight, called Stock Mecha Knight]].
* FairPlayVillain: He's not evil, but he'll give you a sword before you fight him in a boss battle.
* AFatherToHisMen: In Revenge of Meta Knight, where he tells his crew to abandon the Halberd so they'll be safe. When Axe and Mace refuse, he acts like he doesn't care, but then he apologizes under his breath for forcing them into such a situation.
* FatalFlaw: He's willing to fight to the bitter end no matter what... except when his mask comes off. Once it does, [[DefeatByModesty he'll immediately retreat until he can hide his face again.]] Seems one of Popstar's greatest warriors suffers from self-image issues.
* FingerlessHands: It's not immediately obvious because of his gloves, but -- presumably -- being a member of Kirby's species, [[https://i.imgur.com/zcKUZ2J.jpg he has no fingers;]] as shown in ''Kirby's Super Star Stacker''.
* 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 the Hammer for]], but he often has half the [[LifeMeter health]] of Kirby or Dedede.
* GrumpyBear: His response to the [[LovecraftLite relatively]] [[SugarBowl happy]] Dream Land is to declare war on it with a giant battleship in order to end what he views as the people's lazy lifestyle. Even after that, he is known for keeping to himself.
* HealThyself: He can heal himself to full in ''Meta Knightmare Ultra'' and ''Returns'' by spending some Meta Points.
* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: He'll offer you a sword to fight him in one game and be playable in the next.
* HeroAntagonist: In at least 2 games:
** ''Kirby's Adventure'' has him going with Dedede's scheme of breaking the Star Rod. He also secretly helps Kirby in-between.
** In ''Kirby 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.
* HiddenDepths:
** In the anime, he keeps a jar of candy in his bedroom, meaning he could have a bit of a SweetTooth. Also, according to the Japan-exclusive ''Kirby Café''; he secretly enjoys parfait as a midnight snack, and also especially likes afogatto, coffee and chocolate.
** The pause screen FlavorText of his boss fight in ''Star Allies'' states that deep down he has a vain streak, which was [[HatePlague exaggerated by the Jamba Heart]] and caused him to attack Kirby and co. It's implied this could be the reason behind his OutOfCharacterMoment in ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar''.
* HumanResources: In Revenge of Meta Knight, the Meta-Knights use Wheelies to power the Halberd. After Kirby's activities lead to the Halberd's destruction, a Wheelie comes to help Kirby escape the plummeting craft, in spite of Meta Knight's protest.
* KidAppealCharacter: {{Inverted|trope}}; Meta Knight appeals to older players in this adorable, beginner-focused series through his cool design and mature personality. In the ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' games, he fits right in with the cast of ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' as seen when he teams up with Marth and Ike, and nobody bats an eyelid at his cartoony design or diminutive stature. And there's also his voice, which is one of the [[BadassBaritone deepest]] in any Nintendo franchise.
* KnightOfCerebus: He becomes this in the "Revenge of Meta Knight" segment of ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar''. Not only is the game much, much harder than normal thanks to [[TimedMission the time limit]], but the graphics of the Halberd stages are extremely dark and moody, more akin to ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' than anything ''Kirby'' related.
* LazyArtist: Prior to the 3D games, his sword is rendered in gameplay as a normal straight sword and not the jagged one it's always seen as in the artworks. In the 3D games Galaxia is rendered more accurately.
* TheLeader: Of the Meta-Knights. He becomes the RebelLeader during ''Revenge of Meta Knight''.
* LeftHandedMirror: Oddly enough, character art of him in ''Kirby & The Amazing Mirror'' depicts him as left-handed. In all other games, he's right-handed. It can be because mirrors reflect things. [[ShownTheirWork While he was in the mirror world, it changed which hand he uses]].
* ManaMeter: In ''Meta Knightmare Ultra'' and ''Returns'', the [[EssenceDrop Meta Points]] act like this for his Special Skills. It is filled by defeating foes, or by collecting them when they're floating in the wild.
* MaskPower: Not usually, but [[spoiler:In ''Kirby Fighters 2'' his regular mask breaks at the end of story mode's final chapter, causing Dedede to hand him a "Mask of Dark Bonds" that increases his and Dedede's power.]]
* MindOverMatter: ''Kirby Star Allies'' establishes Meta Knight to have the power of telekinesis, using it in his boss fight to [[DishingOutDirt rip several giant boulders out of the earth]], and hurl them down at Kirby and friends. Sometimes, he will also use his duplicates to slash them apart and send smaller pieces down that cover more ground.
* MysteriousPast: A major facet of Meta Knight's character is that his past and his possible relationship to Kirby is frequently teased but never elaborated on.
* NotSoDifferentRemark: The Kirby Café menu items themed after him imply that he enjoys eating sweets almost as much as Kirby does, [[UnmanlySecret but is ashamed of it]].
* PeoplePuppets: Gets controlled by Yin-Yarn using [[EvilWeapon four colored swords with possessing properties]] and made to fight Kirby and Prince Fluff in ''Epic Yarn''. Meta Knight can be seen trying to resist it in between each phase of the battle -- evidenced by his eyes flickering rapidly between yellow and purple -- and snaps out of it once all the swords are pulled away from him and destroyed.
* PlayingWithFire: Has a fiery attack in ''Squeak Squad'', involving him swinging his sword to launch a homing crescent of flame. He also gets one in ''Epic Yarn'' with the purple and red swords; holding them up to transform the blade into a tall pillar of flames, then bringing it down for a long-range burning slash.
* RatedMForManly: Believe it or not. Between his CoolMask, BadassBaritone, cool moves and [[BloodKnight intense competitive spirit]], Meta Knight qualifies for this trope despite being a cute puffball living in a saccharine world.
* RealMenWearPink: The Kirby Café menu reveals that he surprisingly enjoys eating rather indulgent sweets... [[UnmanlySecret when no one is looking, that is]].
* RecurringBossTemplate: When he doesn't appear as a boss (and/or he gets playable), some other boss might appear mimicking him: Dark Meta Knight, Galacta Knight, Metal General (and later Security Force), [[spoiler:Mecha Knight and all its variations, Morpho Knight,]] and Parallel Meta Knight.
* RedOniBlueOni: The blue to Kirby's red, it's even reflected in their colors. Kirby being the younger, cheerful, innocent and (at times) impulsive one, while Meta Knight being the colder and more serious one.
* RetCanon:
** Meta Knight's sword, Galaxia, was given its name from the anime; the jagged design also comes from there. ''Amazing Mirror'', in 2004 (2 years after the anime aired), uses the name "Master" as his sword, although his official artwork and the in-game logo shows the jagged design; his artwork for ''Super Star Ultra'' and the design for Meta Points' meter also used said design (although the sword in gameplay still looks smooth). ''Epic Yarn'' onward uses both the Galaxia name and design.
** ''Return to Dream Land'' has him gain the [[{{Shoryuken}} Shuttle Loop]], a no-grapple-needed version of the Wing Kirby attack that he first had in ''Smash Bros.'' series. ''Planet Robobot'' also gives him the Galaxia Darkness.
* TheReveal: Beating him in ''Kirby's Adventure'' implies that he's another member of Kirby's species.
* TheRival: To Kirby. In ''Kirby Super Star Ultra'' Meta Knight gets his own rival in the form of [[spoiler:Galacta Knight]].
* SelfDuplication: In ''Star Allies'', due to the Jamba Heart's influence, Meta Knight can split into 2-4 copies of himself after he TurnsRed. He can also do it when fought as a boss in the ''Strato Patrol [=EOS=]'' mini-game in ''VideoGame/KirbyMassAttack''.
* SerratedBladeOfPain: Galaxia officially is designed like this, although the game may not always show it in such a form.
* ShadowedFaceGlowingEyes: Meta Knight wears a face mask that covers his face. Only his eyes glow underneath. Under the mask, he looks like Kirby.
* SharpDressedMan: In ''Battle Royale'', one of his unlockable costumes gives him an opera-like mask, a white top hat and a ClassyCane. It's a reference to both his appearance in the Kirby Cafe event and how he was drawn by Elline in her Secret Diary.
* ShockAndAwe: Sometimes uses electricity-based attacks.
* ShouldersOfDoom: His shoulder armor is pretty cool, especially in the later versions where it has his logo on it. [[spoiler:Mecha Knight has an overly big pair that can [[ShoulderCannon shoot missiles]]]].
* 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''.
* SphereOfPower: [[spoiler:Mecha Knight can emit a spherical aura around him that damages Kirby whenever he comes near. He's still vulnerable to long-ranged attacks, though, and he moves slower and leaves stars as he moves.]]
* SpinAttack: As a boss he has an attack where he spins around in midair, creating a tornado around himself while slowly falling down, trying to strike Kirby from above. In a variant, he can also do a vertical slash spin attack, both as a boss and playable character.
* StabTheSky: His Up-Thrust move where he directly stabs up is his original move with the sword, i.e Kirby cannot use it (except when he's wielding the "Master").
* StealthMentor: In ''Kirby's Adventure''. In the original, he's the one who supplies Kirby with the Invincible Lollipops, yet he periodically throws his soldiers, the Meta-Knights, at him and fights Kirby himself. There's no other explanation for these actions except to be secretly training Kirby to become stronger.
* SuperSpeed: In ''Kirby Super Star Ultra'', he's able to fly through the galaxy about as fast as Kirby's warp star, which can [[FasterThanLightTravel fly faster than light.]] In ''Meta Knightmare Ultra'' and ''Meta Knightmare Returns'' one of his skills is 'Meta Quick', which temporarily boosts his speed--and he's already considerably quicker than Kirby.
* SuperStrength: Meta Knight isn't shy when it comes to strength either. His attacks generally hit hard and in ''Meta Knightmare Returns'' in ''VideoGame/KirbyPlanetRobobot'', he can use Galaxia to cleave through giant wooden beams, steel chains and other metal obstacles that Kirby cannot without his Robobot Armor and an appropriate ability. His skills "Mach Tornado" (at least in ''Super Star''), "Meta Knightmares" and [[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl "Galaxia Darkness"]] are significantly powerful against foes, with the former two quite able to take out mini-bosses in one go and even [[spoiler:Star Dream recognises that Meta Knight "possesses incredible power" and is "mighty indeed."]]
* SweetTooth: Keeps a jar of candy in his room in the anime, and all of the menu items at the Kirby Café that are themed after him are sweet-based.
* SwordBeam: He has a crescent sword beam attack in many of his fights; in ''Star Allies'' he spams it more. He can also do it when he's playable, mimicking Kirby. In a variant, his Galaxia Darkness skill (in ''Planet Robobot'') has him do a quick slash that launches a beam that hits to the both sides of him.
* SwordFight: Will almost always throw Kirby a sword before their duels. That is, [[UnwillingRoboticization when he's his]] [[BrainwashedAndCrazy normal self.]]
** 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.
** In ''Meta Knightmare Returns'', [[spoiler:the fight between him and Stock Mecha Knight becomes this by definition. Also, in the end, all of Star Dream's constructs/summons are swordsmen in some way or another; the program used for it is even called "Sword_Master.EXE".]]
** In ''Kirby Star Allies'', this is his intention. Waiting a few seconds or attacking the platform he's stood on [[EasterEgg will cause him to leap to the arena and kick the sword away.]] You can also [[{{Flynning}} carefully time your sword swings against Meta Knight's]] and, if you're lucky, it'll interrupt his attacks.
* SwordPlant: One of his moves, used both as a boss and playable character. In ''Squeak Squad'' he can do this to discharge electricity around him while in ''Super Star (Ultra)'' he does this for either his ground wave attack or his giant tornado attack. Also used in ''VideoGame/KirbyPlanetRobobot'' to disconnect Kirby's Robobot Armor off [[spoiler:the Halberd for the final phase against Star Dream.]]
* SwordSparks: Meta Knight's sword Galaxia can be used to light fuses or even charge up batteries and plugs as evidenced in ''Meta Knightmare Returns''.
* TailSlap: [[spoiler:Mecha Knight+ can grow a long mechanical tail after he TurnsRed and then attack with it. He can even do a SpamAttack with it. Stock Mecha Knight also has one.]]
* TeleportCloak: He retreats by wrapping himself in this cape and flying straight up, [[VideoGame/MegaManClassic Mega Man style!]]
* ThreeStrikeCombo: One of his moves as a boss is a three slash attack with his sword. In his playable 3D appearances he can also do the same, though he then subverts it by adding a BladeSpam right after the third attack.
* TookALevelInJerkass: His motives were somewhat ambiguous in ''Kirby's Adventure'', but his actions in ''Revenge of Meta Knight'' were outright malicious, right down to threatening Kirby directly. It's toned down somewhat in ''Ultra'', and he goes back to being ambiguous in subsequent games.
-->'''Meta Knight''': (''Kirby Super Star'') Kirby, this is it! [[PrepareToDie Prepare to die!]]
-->'''Meta Knight''': (''Ultra'') This is the end. Kirby! Come meet your doom!
* TornadoMove: He has two moves like this: one where he spins in a tornado in midair while slowly descending, trying to hit Kirby, and another where he charges energy in his sword and then summons a tall tornado that moves forward, covering most of the screen. The latter is made into one of his skills in ''Meta Knightmare Ultra'' named Mach Tornado.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Meta Knight, despite being so serious, is surprisingly fond of coffee and chocolate. He's also got a real sweet tooth, with his favourite desserts being parfait and affogato.
* TraumaButton: If the intro screen animations in ''Star Allies'' are to be believed, [[UnwillingRobotization what happened to him]] in ''Planet Robobot'' makes him very uncomfortable around Susie.
* TrueCompanions: His ''Star Allies'' description reveals he feels this way about the other three heroes; even though he acts cold and stoic, he still appreciates the company and greatly values their friendship.
* TheUnfought: In ''VideoGame/KirbyAirRide''. Whereas Dedede is unlocked in a battle, you unlock Meta Knight by staying airborne for thirty minutes or more in the Air Ride mode.
* UnmanlySecret: Possibly the reason why he usually keeps his adorable face hidden behind a mask at all times. The Kirby Café menu also suggests that he tries very hard to keep it a secret when he indulges his SweetTooth, describing him "sneaking" a chocolate cake out of his cloak and hurriedly eating affogato in the early morning.
* UnrevealAngle: Strangely, despite his face showing showing up several times in previous games (albeit briefly), ''Kirby Fighters 2'' [[spoiler:keeps his face concealed after his mask falls off in the TrueFinalBoss fight.]] A more humorous example occurs earlier in the game; when Dedede throws Meta Knight a Maxim Tomato, he turns away from the camera so that we can't see how he eats it with his mask on.
* UnwillingRoboticization: [[spoiler:In ''Planet Robobot'' he is captured by the Haltmann Works Company and converted into a cyborg soldier known as [[PunnyName Mecha Knight]].]]
* VideogameFlight: He can fly around the stages with his wings. Due to it being based on Wing Kirby, he flies faster than normal Kirby.
* VillainsActHeroesReact: His most villainous portrayal (''Revenge of Meta Knight'') had him act to take over Dream Land [[WellIntentionedExtremist thinking it would be better under his rule]]. More heroic portrayals have him acting ahead of Kirby, [[HeroAntagonist only to come off as a foe]]. His fully heroic moments come when he is reacting as much as Kirby.
* VocalDissonance: Despite being a round, tiny WaddlingHead of the same species as Kirby, all his voiced appearances give him a manly BadassBaritone, which only adds to his appeal.
* WakeUpCallBoss: Is 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 Helper to Hero.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: Especially in ''Revenge of Meta Knight''. He thinks that the Dream Landers are lazy and/or unorganized and he feels that it'll become a better place if he ruled it.
* WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer: Whenever he gets playable, he'll be able to solve all the puzzles in the game with just his sword, while Kirby would often need the more appropriate powers, one at a time. When Kirby acquires it (in form of "Master") in ''Amazing Mirror'', Kirby can do the same.
* TheWorfEffect: In ''[[VideoGame/KirbyAndTheAmazingMirror Amazing Mirror]]'', ''VideoGame/TheSubspaceEmissary'', ''VideoGame/KirbysEpicYarn'', and ''VideoGame/KirbyPlanetRobobot'', he has been defeated and/or [[BrainwashedAndCrazy compromised]] before the events of the game by the MonsterOfTheWeek.
* WorthyOpponent: Always refuses to fight you until you pick up the sword he offers.
** The only time he breaks this pattern is in Revenge of Meta Knight, and then, he'll wait 30 seconds before jumping into the fray. Which is reasonable, since by that point [[spoiler:the Halberd is falling towards the ocean.]]
** In ''Squeak Squad'' -- while he doesn't hand you the sword, there is one in the room you're in before you fight him. Additionally, the stars his attacks leave give you the Sword ability if you swallow them... for some reason.
*** It should also be noted that he probably doesn't hand you one because [[spoiler:he is trying to prevent Kirby from releasing Dark Nebula]].
** This is also how you can suspect that [[spoiler:the Meta Knight you fought in ''Kirby & The Amazing Mirror'' is an evil copy; he doesn't hand you a sword before the fight.]]
** In ''Star Allies'', you can skip getting the sword by flying up to Meta Knight's perch and landing on it (or, like in ''Super Star'', just wait for half a minute), causing it to collapse. This annoys Meta Knight enough to kick the sword away and fight you anyway.
** He eventually gets one in the form of [[spoiler:Galacta Knight]].
** Whenever he's brainwashed to attack Kirby, he also won't give Kirby a sword. The only exception is in ''Star Allies'', which is because this particular type of brainwashing exaggerated his vain streak, meaning he was desperate to prove that he is stronger than Kirby.

** Despite Marx using Kirby and wishing to rule Popstar in, then trying to get rid of Kirby as a loose end, Kirby lets him join up in ''Star Allies'' as a Dream Friend. It may have something to do with [[NotSoDifferent Marx's love of food and people who give it to him]], according to a Pause screen blurb.

* NotSoDifferent: The Kirby Café menu items themed after him imply that he enjoys eating sweets almost as much as Kirby does, [[UnmanlySecret but is ashamed of it]].

* BadPowersGoodPeople: Characters with a CannibalismSuperpower aren't usually part of the heroes, and even rarer are heroic characters that treat such an ability casually as a simple way of life. But despite eating living beings and assimilating their abilities being his entire powerset, Kirby is still a sweet and friendly guy whose always up for helping whenever a crisis occurs, and has close friendships with numerous characters, including former enemies. It helps that, barring rare instances of DeaderThanDead, none of the characters permanently stay dead, with implications that almost every boss has a form of ResurrectiveImmortality, since every successive mini-boss and recurring boss description talks as if they're the same character each time, with some like Kracko outright confirming their cases, so outside rivalries and working for villains him eating them causes no hard feelings. It's even suggested that normal enemies, even ones that were swallowed, don't really die since they'll reappear in the exact spot they were in if the player backtracks... but ''only'' if they were defeated in some way.
* BeTheBall: Kirby is forcibly transformed into a ball in ''Canvas Curse'' that you have to guide around. Kirby also learns in ''Rainbow Curse'' how to tuck his arms and legs into his body in order to willingly become a ball, which also can be guided around.

* CaptainCrash: Every flight on the Warp Star ends with it colliding with the ground.

* CatchPhrase: Two: "Hiii!" and "Poyo!". Both are somewhat [[AbandonedCatchphrase discredited]], with the latter only ever appearing in the anime and the former not appearing nearly as often as it used to.

** While in most games it falls under UselessSuperpowers, the Sleep ability gains a genuine combat-capable moveset in ''Battle Royale'', and fittingly enough it looks absolutely ridiculous. Kirby is implied to be {{Sleep|walking}} ''[[UpToEleven Fighting]]'' with this moveset, his main method of attacking is to smack people with his pillow, he's able to weaponize his SnotBubble as an exploding ranged attack, he has a ForcedSleep attack that involves invoking the normal version of Sleep on other fighters by slapping a nightcap on them, and he can {{invoke|dTrope}} RestingRecovery by staying still for a bit. All the while the ability deals some of the highest damage per attack out of the entire ability roster.

* UselessSuperpowers: The Sleep ability in most games is not only completely useless, it often acts as an outright PoisonMushroom at times, having Copy Essences placed in locations solely to add some challenge to levels where precise movement is needed, as it leaves Kirby completely vulnerable to enemy attacks. Later games at least add the option of forcing Kirby awake earlier, with the added benefit of damaging enemies when the SnotBubble pops.