>< Meta Knight >< (Sucking your dih)

META KNIGHT'S BRIEF DESCRIPTION

Meta Knight is a major character in the Kirby series, appearing in most of the games, the manga, as well as the anime since his debut in Kirby's Adventure in 1993. The intrigue and popularity surrounding Meta Knight within the Kirby fandom largely lies in his enigmatic and solitary, yet caring nature, and his mysterious, yet striking likeness to Kirby himself.

Meta Knight is also the leader of an army of soldiers known as the Meta-Knights, and captains a large airship called Battleship Halberd, which may accompany him into the heat of battle. Despite making his debut in Kirby's Adventure, his true name was not known in North America until Kirby's Avalanche was released in 1995.

Normally the games he appears in usually feature him as a boss for Kirby to fight, but in Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land and after that game, there have been instances where he is playable in alternate modes, or even teams up with Kirby directly to stop evil from taking over Dream Land. Though most of his actions in the games originate from arguably good intentions, the ways he tries to accomplish his goals are often very extreme and poorly understood by Kirby, which causes them to fight, though they never have any ill-will to one another. He serves as one of the most known characters from the games alongside Kirby, King Dedede, Bandana Waddle Dee, Whispy Woods, Kracko, and Waddle Dee. Due to Meta Knight's way of doing things and his oft-hidden intentions, the relationship between Kirby and Meta Knight is unpredictable in nature, ranges from anywhere between being bitter rivals to steadfast allies to one another, and can change at a moment's notice.

APPEARANCE

Meta Knight has some of the various characteristics that Kirby has: a spherical body, feet and stubby arms (albeit longer than Kirby's and with actual digits), tall and thin eyes, and also features blushes. Meta Knight also wears his trademark attire; his silver mask and his blue or dark purple Dimensional Cape with gold trimmings, as well as a pair of patched or metallic shoes. He has retractable bat-like wings and flies with them in the games. The wings' first prominent use is in Kirby Super Star, where Meta Knight chased Kirby near the end of Revenge of Meta Knight. In Kirby Air Ride, he can fly with them whenever he takes part in a race. Meta Knight's weapon of choice is usually Galaxia, a spiked golden sword with an embedded ruby in the hilt. Unmasked Meta knight One of Meta Knight's most well-known traits is the fact that he is almost never seen with his mask off. In most games, his mask is split into two upon defeat, revealing a face nearly identical to Kirby's with bright yellow eyes (however, in older games, Meta Knight sported white eyes and pink blushes). In the event that should he be ever unmasked, he immediately departs from the field of battle.

Meta Knight's similarities to Kirby have led to speculation that he is a member of Kirby's species or is somehow related to them. Despite this, Meta Knight possesses body parts, such as hands (since Kirby's Avalanche) and wings, that no known Kirbys have. Still, a connection is implied in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, where Kirby is given an alternate palette that makes him look like Meta Knight. Furthermore, at Palutena's Temple, Pit and Viridi can converse about Meta Knight; they discuss his resemblance to Kirby and question if he also can inhale and copy abilities. However, Meta Knight's relation to the Kirby species has never been officially revealed.

His pauldrons always have a yellow lining and are often gray in color, but are sometimes dark blue. In Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Kirby: Planet Robobot onwards, his left pauldron bears his insignia, which is an "M" in front of an upward-pointing sword. Meta Knight's cape is blue in all instances except Super Smash Bros. Brawl, where it is purple. Also, in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, his cape has a bat insignia on it. The blushes on his face are almost always clearly pink, though they were toned very light in Kirby Super Star.

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Meta Knight has dark purple feet with violet sabatons over them instead of plain violet feet, giving him a much more complex and well-armored appearance and something that would become part of his design in later Kirby games, starting with Kirby: Planet Robobot.

In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, he wears silver mitten gauntlets over his gloves, a detail seen in official artwork of Meta Knight from Kirby: Squeak Squad and Kirby Super Star Ultra, and would become a part of his official design in later appearances. His armor also has a number of small but noticeable cuts, nicks and other signs of battle-scars compared to his appearances in the main series.

Meta Knight's mask sometimes gives a yellowish tint to the wearer's eyes. Meta Knight's white eyes turn yellow, and Kirby's blue eyes become green (only seen in Super Smash Bros. Brawl).

Being a knight, Meta Knight respects a code of chivalry, and almost always offers Kirby a sword whenever he fights against him. He is a fierce and skilled swordsman, as well as a solitary and stoic character. He is often seen alone, and it is sometimes unclear as to what he is feeling or what his motives are. Meta Knight is proud of his abilities, but wants to improve more, as shown in Meta Knightmare Ultra and Kirby Battle Royale, where he summons Galactic Nova to challenge the greatest warrior in the galaxy, and enters The Cake Royale along with Axe Knight to increase his strength, respectively. To this end, Meta Knight keeps up a strict training regimen to prepare himself for future battles, be it on the side of Kirby, King Dedede or himself.

In the Revenge of Meta Knight sub-game, he is shown to loathe laziness to the point of trying to take over Dream Land to end its lazy lifestyle. The reason for his abhorrence of laziness can be explained in later games as several times, he is the only one to recognize a threat to Dream Land, even before Kirby, who is purposely shown sleeping at the time these threats occur. With this being part of the beginning of his rivalry with Kirby, the two got off to a rather rocky start.

Despite his solitude, Meta Knight is shown to be very caring about those dear to him. When Kirby is destroying the Halberd in the Revenge of Meta Knight sub-game, Meta Knight orders his crew, the Meta-Knights, to abandon ship in hopes that they will not get hurt. Instead of listening to his orders however, most of the crew decides to stay and fight Kirby, to which he then responds with a "Thank you, guys" in Kirby Super Star, or an "I'm sorry" after saying they're about to perish and that they can do as they please in Kirby Super Star Ultra, meaning that he feels proud due to his crew being there for him in the former game, or guilt due to his crew's undying loyalty to him in the latter. In Kirby: Planet Robobot, Meta Knight ensures Kirby's safety after the latter destroyed Star Dream. In Kirby Fighters 2, Meta Knight is shown to have a very close bond with King Dedede, due to both having the shared aspect of never being able to win against Kirby. Additionally, his flavor text in Kirby Star Allies states that he would never forget his connection to his friends.

In games following Kirby's Return to Dream Land, Meta Knight seems to be on much friendlier terms with Kirby, now mostly only fighting him when either controlled or possessed, and often helping him. However, he still has his rivalry with Kirby, as seen in Kirby Battle Royale, where he and Axe Knight end up in a match against Kirby and Bandana Waddle Dee in The Cake Royale, and states that they "had better do their best." Also, despite their rivalry having grown friendlier, Meta Knight appears to dislike the fact that he can never win against Kirby, as shown in Kirby Fighters 2, where he teams up with King Dedede in an attempt to win against Kirby for once, and they take desperate measures to do so.

Meta Knight appears to have adapted to Dream Land's peaceful lifestyle since he can occasionally be seen engaging in relaxing activities when not training or if there are no looming threats to Dream Land; he can be seen reading a book in Kirby's Return to Dream Land, resting on a hilltop in Kirby: Planet Robobot, and polishing his sword in Kirby: Star Allies. He appears to lack a sense of humor, or at least that of King Dedede's, as in the title screen of Kirby's Return to Dream Land, when Dedede makes an amusing face, Meta Knight simply shakes his head in disdain. In-universe, Meta Knight is famous among the residents of Dream Land, and has many fans, including Bandana Waddle Dee, as shown in Kirby Battle Royale. According to a Twitter post, there is even a well-known rumor that Meta Knight has a sweet tooth.[1]

Interestingly, he never seems to want his face revealed, immediately retreating via his Dimensional Cape when his mask is broken and falls off. The reason for this is never explained, though it may be because he is self-aware of how cute it makes him and wears a mask as intimidation or because it reveals a possible connection to Kirby himself that he does not want to reveal. Furthermore, it could also be that it makes him more mysterious, as an anonymous fighter often seems more intimidating, as the mask hides his true self.

GALAXIA

The sword known only as Galaxia is a golden blade with a ruby embedded in its hilt, with anywhere from zero to six spikes protruding from its sharp edges. In earlier games, the spikes were absent from Meta Knight's then-unnamed sword.

In the games, Galaxia is capable of shooting out sword beams and standard sword moves. In Meta Knightmare Ultra, it absorbs the energy of a defeated foe, allowing Meta Knight to use special actions like the Mach Tornado, Meta Quick and Heal. Galaxia is used by Kirby when he uses the Master Copy Ability in Kirby & The Amazing Mirror.