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This Magnificent Baddie was Headlined on March 2023. | ||
| “ | Come back when you can put up a fight. | „ |
| ~ Meta Knight when he wins a battle in Super Smash Bros. |
| “ | With every battle, Kirby's strength and skills intensify. He truly has the makings of a great Star Warrior. | „ |
| ~ Meta Knight about Kirby's power. |
Meta Knight is the tritagonist of the Kirby franchise.
He is a mysterious masked Star Warrior who sets out to prove himself as the strongest swordsman in the galaxy, meanwhile testing Kirby's strength by challenging him to 1-on-1 duels and working with Kirby and friends to stop the evil forces that dare disturb Planet Popstar.
In Super Smash Bros, he was voiced by Eric Newsome. In Kirby: Right Back at Ya!, he was voiced by Atsushi Kisaichi in Japanese and Eric Stuart in English.
What Makes Him Magnificent?[]
Franchise-wide[]
- His design combined with his mysterious origins makes him an extremely cool and intriguing character.
- The design of his sword, Galaxia is also very cool and Galaxia itself is arguably one of the most famous swords in video game history.
- Underneath his awesome mask, it is revealed that he is a Star Warrior just like Kirby, which implies a possible relation or past connection, making their bond even stronger and more magnificent.
- His voice and quotes make him look extremely badass, especially in the Super Smash Brothers games, where he has a very deep, booming voice.
- This is taken a step further in the English dub of the anime, Kirby: Right Back at Ya!, where he has an awesome Spanish accent (with equally awesome guitar music to accompany it).
- In the Italian Dub, he is given a deep, charismatic voice by Marco Balzarotti, who also voices Batman in the Italian dub of all Batman animated series and Optimus Prime in Transformers: Animated and Transformers: Prime.
- He is the most honorable character in the series, always making sure his duels with Kirby are as fair as possible by giving him a sword before their duel starts.
- Although in Squeak Squad he doesn't give Kirby a sword before battle like he usually does, that was an occasion where Meta Knight's defeat would've put the whole cosmos at risk, as Dark Nebula would've been freed, so it was perfectly justified of Meta Knight to prioritize the safety of the Universe over honor.
- In the games and especially in the anime, he acts as a mentor and father figure to Kirby, guiding him on almost every one of his adventures and testing his strength every so often.
- His method of transportation is the Halberd, his airship, looks extremely cool.
- He is completely immune to Kirby's vacuum suck despite being small and light.
- While he is sometimes an enemy of King Dedede, this is understandable considering King Dedede's occasional villainy. In the anime, this animosity is even more justified as King Dedede is a much bigger jerk and outright villain there.
- Despite being a more serious character than most of the cast, he isn't an outright joyless and terrifying Knight of Cerebus like 0 or Star Dream and in recent games, he provides his form of comedy by being the reasonable straight man, which compliments the outright wackiness of everyone else in the main cast.
- In the anime, in particular, his seriousness no matter the situation and his deadpan delivery provide many hilarious moments, such as when he gets covered in cream pies, when he gives in to Dedede's television scheme, or when he's baffled by the lines he's given in Dedede's cartoon.
- In general, he provides comedy across the entire series as the fact that, despite how badass he is, he looks just like the adorable Kirby under his mask is hilarious in itself, yet it's never focused on enough for Meta Knight to look like a joke.
Games[]
- He is extremely charismatic, as seen in his relationship with his loyal crew and the fact he was able to convince them in Kirby Superstar Ultra to follow his plan to take over Dreamland for a good cause.
- He didn't seem to realize that by trying to take over Dreamland to make the residents not lazy and prepare them from threats, he was ironically being a threat himself, and from what he says in Meta Knight's Revenge his rule would've unknowingly have been a militaristic dictatorship. However, after this incident, he learned the error of his ways and becomes a protector of Planet Popstar and to an extent Dreamland, and the only times he plays an antagonistic role after this is when he is trying to stop someone from unknowingly causing more chaos, testing Kirby's strength to see if he is ready for the task up ahead, or when he is being downright controlled/possessed.
- Sometime after his attempted hostile takeover, he seeks out a Galactic Nova and wishes to fight the strongest warrior in the galaxy. It summons Galacta Knight, the Aeon Hero, to fight Meta Knight. Meta Knight defeats him, proving that he is indeed the strongest warrior in the galaxy.
- In The Amazing Mirror, he fights against his evil clone from the mirror dimension, Dark Meta Knight, to defend Popstar.
- In Squeak Squad, he steals a treasure chest from the Squeaks. While Daroach and Kirby think that it contains treasure and a piece of strawberry cake respectively, the chest contains the evil entity Dark Nebula, and Meta Knight tries to use a spacecraft of his to hide the chest in the deep void of space never to be found and opened.
- In Return to Dreamland, Meta Knight, alongside Kirby, King Dedede, and Bandana Waddle Dee, helps Magolor rebuild his ship, the Lor, and defeat Landia, once Magolor reveals himself to have been a hegemonic manipulator all along, Meta Knight helps take him down and save Dreamland.
- In the same game, he is a very fun playable character, as he would later also be in Star Allies.
- In Epic Yarn, he tries to will himself out of Yin-Yarn's mind control multiple times throughout his boss fight, unlike many other Kirby villains before and after him who gave little to no resistance when possessed or brainwashed, like King Dedede, Daroach, or even Magolor. After he is freed from Yin-Yarn's control, he warns Kirby that the sorcerer is trying to take over Dreamland.
- In the Super Smash Brothers game, he is a very powerful playable fighter, to the point where he was infamously overpowered in Brawl thanks to his flight ability. In the story modes of said games, he also contributes to stopping cosmic threats, such as Taboo, Dharkon, and Galeem, as he does in the Kirby series.
- In Planet Robobot he tries to use his Halberd to shoot down the Access Ark and protect Dreamland. When the Halberd is defeated, Meta Knight takes down a large portion of the Haltmann Works Company single-handedly before being captured, mechanically enhanced, and brainwashed into Mecha Knight (a form that also looks very badass).
- As soon as he is freed from Haltmann's control, he uses the Halberd to assist Kirby in defeating the rogue machine Star Dream and, later, is implied to have helped Kirby land safely back to Pop Star without waking him up before going back to patrol the skies of Dreamland.
- He doesn't hold grudges, as, in Star Allies, he willingly collaborates with many characters who had been his enemies in the past, including Dark Meta Knight himself.
- Before being corrupted by Hyness' Jamba Hearts, he defends the citizens of Dreamland from the falling shards of the Heart.
- A piece of artwork from the Kirby 25th Anniversary orchestra suggests he can play the violin.
- While Marx and Magolor do outshine him in terms of manipulation (with the latter having even briefly manipulated Meta Knight himself), this is not a problem, as he outshines them both in terms of charisma, honor, and overall how much of a badass he is.
- He is a downright hero in the latest games, being ready to help Kirby defeat forces of evil like Star Dream or Void Termina.
- In The Forgotten Land, he was sucked into the mysterious world through the vortexes before the events of the game, and by the time Kirby arrives, he's already explored the entirety of the continent by himself and provides Kirby with awesome challenges in the Boss Endurance challenges in the Colosseum.
- When Fecto Forgo attempted to possess him, he resisted with his willpower and escaped, although the collision of power created Phantom Meta Knight.
Anime[]
- He and the rest of the Star Warriors attempted a rebellion against Nightmare (eNeMeE in the dub) and Meta Knight was one of the very few survivors, making him very tragic and sympathetic.
- He gave his good friend, Knuckle Joe's father, a mercy kill after he was turned into a monster and later talked some sense into Knuckle Joe, who erroneously blamed Kirby.
- He was chosen by the powerful Star Warrior Gerlude to have the sword Galaxia when she sacrificed herself to retrieve it and Galaxia, which is sentient, also approved him as worthy to wield it.
- He saved Sword and Blade Knight from WolfWrath even if the two attacked him and the two became very loyal assistants to him.
- He joined the corrupt King Dedede's forces just so he could secretly build the Halberd ship beneath Dedede's castle and use it to, one day, defeat Nightmare for good. In the series finale, the Halberd would, indeed, be vital for the heroes to reach and defeat Nightmare, making Meta Knight indirectly successful in avenging his fallen comrades.
- Although in his first appearance in Right Back at Ya!, he agreed to take Kirby down for King Dedede, he was very reluctant from the very start until he was threatened with being marked as a traitor. He still ordered his Meta-Knights to give Kirby a sword to have a fair fight, covertly mentored Kirby since their very first battle, and helped Kirby when Dedede sent a monster after him, and, from that point onward, he was always on Kirby, Tiff, and Tuff's side against Dedede.
- He is often the only character outside of Tiff to see through Dedede's schemes and the only person she can consult for good advice.
- In one episode, the Meta-Knights claim Meta Knight is a terrible cook. Even if what they said was true, it'd be a very minor flaw and wouldn't detract from his magnificence.
What Makes Him a Baddie?[]
Franchise-Wide[]
- In order to achieve his goals, he has battled and tried to kill Kirby (who is likely a baby) many times, even if reluctantly. Although most of the time where he tries to kill him is when he is being controlled or possessed, and the time when he isn't being controlled or possessed is more fridge horror if anything else.
Games[]
- He attempted to take over Dreamland in a hostile manner using the Halberd which, while for a good cause, was ultimately an extremely flawed plan. This is his only notable crime, however, so he isn't too much of a baddie, especially since world domination pales when compared to the omnicide that other villains in the series have attempted, such as Star Dream, Void Termina, and 0.
- Teamed up with King Dedede to beat Kirby showing that he wants to show that he is better than Kirby even though they were friends at that point.
- Although an honorable mentor to Kirby even then, his first fight against Kirby in the anime is particularly hard to watch, as Meta Knight beats up what is basically an innocent child, made even worse by how, in the first phase of the fight, Kirby didn't even have any weapon to defend himself with until Tiff told Meta Knight to make the battle fairer, not to mention he was trying to hurt Kirby on behalf of King Dedede, who he knew was corrupt.
- It should be noted though that the anime Meta Knight has shed all his corrupting qualities, and these were very minor anyway.
- Although an honorable mentor to Kirby even then, his first fight against Kirby in the anime is particularly hard to watch, as Meta Knight beats up what is basically an innocent child, made even worse by how, in the first phase of the fight, Kirby didn't even have any weapon to defend himself with until Tiff told Meta Knight to make the battle fairer, not to mention he was trying to hurt Kirby on behalf of King Dedede, who he knew was corrupt.
Anime[]
- Still occasionally works under King Dedede, a corrupt king, but this doesn't make him On & Off, as he only worked for him for entirely good reasons.
Trivia[]
- His Right Back at Ya! counterparts, Sirica and Monsieur Goan are the three MBs in the anime, though none of his "baddie" qualities are present in the.
- Meta Knight was the very first Magnificent Baddie to ever appear in a video game (at least out of the ones approved on this Wiki), as he made his debut in Kirby's Adventure in March 23, 1993.
- While Bowser from the Mario franchise and Dr. Eggman from the Sonic franchise have been around longer than him, they would be first portrayed as MBs only in 2013's Mario Party: Island Tour and June 1993's SegaSonic the Hedgehog respectively, while Meta Knight, who always had a more consistent characterization than either, has been an MB from the start.
- While the original Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? video game came out in 1985, the version of Carmen Sandiego approved on this Wiki comes from the animated series adaptation from 1994.
- Meta Knight is the only playable character in the Super Smash Bros. games to be a Magnificent Baddie, aside from King Dedede in Super Smash Bros. Brawl Subspace Emissary mode.
- His counterpart in the original Kirby of the Stars Pilot for the anime does not qualify as MB, as that version of Meta Knight is a mere minion sent out by Nightmare who is given no characterization and is defeated effortlessly by Kirby.
- So far, his Pilot counterpart is the only version of Meta Knight to not be an MB.
- He and Magolor are the only Kirby MB to have been playable in games other than Star Allies.
External Links[]
- Meta Knight on the Heroes Wiki
- Meta Knight on the Villains Wiki
- Meta Knight on the Kirby Wiki
- Meta Knight on the Near Pure Good Wiki
- His Anime Version on the Pure Good Wiki
[]
 Magnificent Baddies
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