King Dedede (Games)
From Kirbypedia
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| English Name: | King Dedede |
| Japanese Name: | デデデ大王 Dedede Daiou Great King Dedede |
| First Game: | Kirby's Dream Land |
| Species: | Penguin |
| Gender: | Male |
| Alignment: | Mostly Bad |
| Category: | Boss, Final Boss, Ally |
This page is about Dedede in the games. For the version in the anime, see King Dedede (Anime). For the unnamed mecha in Kirby's Dream Course and Kirby Wii, see Robo Mecha Dedede.
King Dedede is the tyrannical ruler of Dream Land, and tends to be a constant source of misery for its inhabitants. Much like Meta Knight, Dedede is seen as a rival to Kirby and tends to appear as a boss to be fought. However, he has also (grudgingly) teamed up with him at times, and once or twice has tried to 'help' in his own misguided ways.
Dedede is the third most frequent character in the series after Kirby himself and Waddle Dee, having appeared in every game in the series in some form- except Kirby & the Amazing Mirror.
Appearance
Dedede's appearance has changed somewhat since his first incarnation in Kirby's Dream Land.
He's a chubby, blue-feathered penguin wearing a red, fur-trimmed robe and a red hat with a gold rim and a white puff on top. In some games he has a cream-colored stomach, and it also varies as to whether he wears yellow gloves or has his hands bare.
He wears and band around his stomach that has a red and yellow zig-zag pattern, and has yellow feet (or yellow shoes). His weapon of choice is a huge mallet with a star on each end.
In earlier games, Dedede was usually depicted with a much larger head and mouth, but in more recent versions his head is shown smaller, possibly to follow his design in the anime series.
Personality and Background
As with most other game characters, Dedede's past isn't touched upon. It isn't clear just how he came to rule Dream Land, though it's been said that it's something he decided for himself, and so far no one has tried to overthrow him.
Dedede isn't so much of an evil tyrant as he is a plain old bully. He does a lot of nasty things, like stealing all of the people's food, but he's also tried to do things to help Dream Land, such as his actions in Kirby's Adventure. But due to his past tricks, Kirby is constantly suspicious of Dedede, and usually misinterprets his actions.
It's been suggested that Dedede is jealous of Kirby, something that once led him to train to be able to inhale and float as Kirby does. He and Kirby often compete in ways other than just battling, such as various races and side games. (Dedede may be one of the only characters whose appetite can rival Kirby's!)
Dedede has had many different castles in the series, in different locations on Dream Land. At first, his castle was nested at the summit of Mt. Dedede. Later, his fortress was Dark Castle, which made the entire last level in Kirby's Dream Land 2 following Iceberg. In Kirby's Dream Land 3, his castle was just found at the end Iceberg.
His most recent, seen in Kirby Squeak Squad, is identical to the one from the anime on the outside, though the decor inside is different.
Games
As a boss Kirby fights:
- Kirby's Dream Land
- Kirby's Adventure
- Kirby's Dream Land 2
- Kirby's Pinball Land
- Kirby's Block Ball
- Kirby's Avalanche
- Kirby's Dream Course
- Kirby Super Star
- Kirby's Dream Land 3
- Kirby no Kirakira Kizzu (never released in the US)
- Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards
- Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble
- Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land
- Kirby Air Ride
- Kirby Canvas Curse
- Kirby Squeak Squad
- Kirby Super Star Ultra
As a playable character:
Kirby's Dream Land
King Dedede is presented as the main antagonist in Kirby's first game, having stolen food from the people of Dream Land, as well as the Sparkling Stars that helped to gather food. He splits the Stars up amongst his top subordinates, and he himself waits for Kirby in a wrestling ring built in his castle atop Mt. Dedede. When Kirby finally reaches him, Dedede attacks both with his hammer and by inhaling Kirby. The battle is a simple one that needs endurance more than it does skill, and once he is defeated, Dedede is blown out of his own castle with one last high-pitched squeal.
Kirby's Adventure
When everyone in Dream Land suddenly stops dreaming, Kirby is less than surprised to find Dedede floating around in the waters of the Fountain of Dreams. When confronted, Dedede casually says he broke the fountain's power source, the Star Rod, into several pieces and gave them to his friends. Naturally, before Dedede can explain himself, Kirby gets all upset and goes off to to get the pieces back.
When Kirby does finally get the Star Rod back, he first has to battle Dedede in front of the fountain. Dedede's main weapon is his hammer, and he will dash forward and slam it down, creating a star that Kirby can inhale and spit back at him. He will also inhale and will try to chew Kirby up and spit him out, or float around like Kirby can to drop down and squish him.
After the battle, Dedede pleads with Kirby to not put the Star Rod back, but Kirby does anyway- releasing Nightmare who had been imprisoned inside. Dedede fires Kirby and the Star Rod into the sky to battle it. He had only been trying to protect everyone from Nightmare after all. (He just hadn't put much thought into it, but at least he tried!)
Kirby's Dream Land 2
For once, Dedede isn't the cause of the troubles in this game- he's been possessed by the evil Dark Matter and Kirby must fight him first. Dedede's basic attacks are the same as in previous games: he can trip and fall, jump up and smash down, inhale and exhale, and attack with his mallet by either swinging it or tossing it, causing it to explode.
Additionally, every once in a while he flies into a rage where steam flies out his ears, doubling his speed and making his attacks more explosive, increasing his difficulty. Rather than just producing a star, his attacks also yield a large burst that swoops upward and cannot be inhaled. The stars made with this are smoldering hot. If a star does not bounce along the ground, it breaks if left not inhaled into tiny stars that can damage Kirby. When Dedede inhales in this raged state, he slowly slides forward and always gets a bullet to spit back out. Even when he trips, a star pops out.
After defeating him, if Kirby has all the Rainbow Drops, Dark Matter will leave his body. If not, you get the bad ending.
Kirby's Pinball Land
This time it is King Dedede himself who is the true final boss of the game, unlockable once the Borderline has been met in all 10 worlds of the game. King Dedede's attempt to build himself a castle atop the Fountain of Dreams is foiled once Kirby withstands his volleys of rockets, bombs, and his standard inhalation offensive.
Kirby's Block Ball
At the end of the hidden eleventh level, Dedede appears. He has three different modes of attack depending on how much life he has remaining. In his initial state, he throws out bombs to stun and shrink the paddles. After some damage, he travels left and right. Any attack to damage him from below results in Kirby being eaten and spit back out. For the last stage, the King produces a rocket launcher and blasts all of the paddles continuously.
Kirby's Avalanche
The sixteenth and final boss in the competition, faced in front of the Dream Fountain, is the King himself. Once he is defeated, Kirby is made the champion.
Kirby's Dream Course
The story of Kirby's Dream Course is driven by the sudden disappearance of stars in the Pop Star sky, and common sense leads most people to suspect the King and his apparent dislike of stars to be the motivation for his latest scheme. Dedede himself does not appear much, though the entire game takes place in one of his many castles (this one happens to be floating among the clouds in the sky).
King Dedede's appearance as the final boss of Dream Course is likely the most unique, as he hops into a giant mecha modelled after himself, as well as releasing miniature robotic clones of himself. After 10 hits, Robo Mecha Dedede is destroyed, and King Dedede is helpless as Kirby restores the stars of the night sky.
Kirby Super Star
King Dedede only appears once during the plot driven events of the game, as the final boss of Spring Breeze, the Dream Land remake. This time, however, the wrestling ring of Dream Land is replaced with a modernized one, with a large crowd and scoreboard. Unlike with other appearances, Dedede is fully vulnerable to attacks made with copy abilities and does not need to have his stars or leavings spit back at him to inflict damage.
King Dedede also races against Kirby in Gourmet Race.
Kirby's Star Stacker
The King appears in Round Clear mode where he requires Kirby to stack stars. There is no real motive behind this. Reaching a certain number that he sets will defeat him, for some reason. After so many turns of play, his fist appears and pounds the ground to rise the floor by one row of blocks.
Kirby's Dream Land 3
The King is battled at the end of the Iceberg level to rid him of his Dark Matter possession. He appears sluggish and sleepy, napping often. His standard assaults are used, including pulling out a mallet, jumping, and trying to inhale Kirby. The mallet and jumping produce stars as with previous appearances. New to his repertoire, Dedede begins to spin around. After building up steam, he bounces around the screen up and down in several leaps and bounds without leaving stars.
A second stage is entered after draining the first life meter in which Dedede begins to float in the air. The controlling force manifests itself more obviously and makes appearances during attacks. The King will bisect, revealing either a black pair of jaws or an ominous eye. The jaws begin snapping and make a dive towards Kirby's position. The eye launches out a volley of three black, trailing orbs. They are fired in the direction of Kirby, travel a short span, then change direction to his newer location if it changed. These bullets can be inhaled and fired back at the possessed Dedede.
Kirby no Kirakira Kizzu
King Dedede is battled directly in the Round Clear version of play, much like in Kirby's Star Stacker. As stars are stacked, they are used to deplete his hit points.
He is also a boss faced in the Story Mode of the game and sets up the events. He sees Mr. Star flying through the sky and shoots him with a cannon, as a prank, which scatters the star fragments across the land. He is then faced as the seventh boss, normally the last unless a flawless game is played. Such an accomplishment leads the player to face Grill.
Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards
After being defeated as the boss of Pop Star, the first world, Dedede joins Kirby and his assembled group as an ally, who helps Kirby break through walls and tough surfaces during various points of the game later on. He is also a playable character in Kirby 64's minigames.
Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble
Once again Dedede is the main antagonist, having stolen the stars from Dream Land's sky.
He is the final boss, appearing in level 8-4. He attacks Kirby by charging at him as well as swinging and throwing his hammer. In order to defeat him, Kirby must use the sliding cannon in the arena to fire himself at Dedede when his back is turned. Dedede will then begin to run around in a panic for a short time, at which point Kirby must use the cannon again to deal damage. Once Dedede is defeated, the game is beaten and the stars are returned to the sky.
Dedede also races against Kirby the Hurdle Race minigame.
Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land
Identical in plot to Kirby's Adventure, King Dedede once more stands between Kirby and the Fountain of Dreams.
Kirby Air Ride
King Dedede is an unlockable playable character in Air Ride mode, riding a Wheelie and using his hammer similar to Meta Knight and Kirby's Sword. The game is not plot focused, so his motivation for taking place in these races is undeclared.
He also appears in the VS. Dedede minigame in City Trial mode, where the player and any CPU allies must reduce his HP to 0 within one minute, which is arguably one of the hardest challenges of the game. Successfully doing so unlocks him in City Trial's Free Ride mode.
Kirby Canvas Curse
King Dedede appears in the Cart Run minigame, where he races Kirby in a mine cart. If Dedede falls behind Kirby, he will attempt to impede Kirby by throwing hammers at him.
Dedede also appears as a playable character. The Dedede ball can be purchased from the medal swap for 20 medals after the game is beaten with Kirby. As a ball, Dedede is heavy and slow. He is larger than all of the other character balls and has 7 vitality points. When tapped, he swings his hammer, which can pummel enemies and destroy the silver blocks that can otherwise only be destroyed using a cannon.
Kirby Squeak Squad
King Dedede is the first boss faced in the game. Kirby accuses him of stealing his Strawberry Shortcake. Dedede claims to be innocent, but a battle ensues. Afterwards, it is learned that the king was robbed as well, and The Squeaks reveal themselves as the culprits. As they flee, Dedede throws Kirby after them. They collide and fall into a chasm.
Kirby Super Star Ultra
King Dedede once again appears in Spring Breeze and Gourmet Race and behaves exactly as he did in Kirby Super Star.
The new Revenge of the King sub-game is Dedede-centric and again features him as the final boss. Once Kirby treks through his castle, Dedede challenges Kirby to a climactic duel while wearing a metallic mask and wielding a massive mechanical hammer. Before the fight, Dedede offers the Hammer ability to Kirby (a la Meta Knight offering the Sword ability-- like Meta Knight, he will begin the fight if Kirby waits long enough and does not pick up the weapon). Dedede fights Kirby in the same wrestling ring as before, but it is now surrounded by an electric cage. This time the only spectator of the fight is the bandanna-wearing Waddle Dee that assisted Dedede.
Masked Dedede retains all of his attacks from Spring breeze and possesses several new ones, courtesy of his upgraded hammer. The hammer can shoot flames, fire missiles, and create shock waves. Dedede also will spin rapidly with the hammer outstretched; once he completes this attack he will become temporarily immobilized by dizziness.
Masked Dedede is the first member of the Final Four in The True Arena.
| Kirby Game Characters: | |
| Main: Kirby - King Dedede - Meta Knight - Waddle Dee | |
| Allies: Animal Friends - Gooey - Ribbon - Adeleine - Helpers - Other Friends | |
| Enemies: Regular enemies - Mini-bosses - Bosses The Meta Knights - The Squeaks | |
| Final Bosses: Nightmare - Dark Matter - Miracle Matter - 0 (Zero) - 0² (Zero Two) Marx - Dark Mind - Drawcia - Grill - Dark Nebula | |
Categories: Characters | Bosses | Allies | Dream Land Bosses | Adventure Bosses | Dream Land 2 Bosses | Pinball Land Bosses | Block Ball Bosses | Avalanche Bosses | Dream Course Bosses | Super Star Bosses | Dream Land 3 Bosses | KiraKira Kids Bosses | 64 The Crystal Shards Bosses | Nightmare in Dream Land Bosses | Air Ride Bosses | Canvas Curse Bosses | Squeak Squad Bosses | Super Star Ultra Bosses | Final Bosses
