Meta Knight is a major character in the Kirby series appearing in most of the games, manga, as well as the anime. The intrigue and popularity surrounding Meta Knight within the Kirby fandom largely lies in his shrouded motives and his striking likeness to Kirby himself.
Meta Knight is 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. Although Meta Knight first appeared in Kirby's Adventure in 1993, his true name was not known in North America until Kirby's Avalanche was released in 1995.
Meta Knight wears his trademark attire, including 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 the Galaxia Sword, which is a spiked golden sword with an embedded ruby in the hilt.
Meta Knight unmasked
One of Meta Knight's most well-known traits is the fact that he is very rarely seen with his mask off. In a few games, his mask is split into two upon defeat, revealing a face near-identical to Kirby's with misty white eyes, a mouth, and bright pink cheeks. (However, in Kirby: Planet Robobot his eyes seem to be yellow without his mask). In the event that he is ever unmasked, he immediately departs the field of battle. His similarity to Kirby has led to speculation that he is a member of Kirby's species. This is further 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, what Meta Knight's relation to the Kirby species is has never been officially revealed.
Meta Knight was originally depicted black, wearing a usually-crimson cape and without any armor besides his mask (with yellow glowing eyes in artwork). In Kirby's Avalanche, he had pauldrons, violet shoes, and a brighter skin tone. His design was revised again in Kirby Super Star. In Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land, he was made bigger than Kirby and given a yellow strap to hold his mask in place. Since Kirby Air Ride, official artwork shows his sword reflecting Galaxia's design in the anime. Since Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Meta Knight was again re-sized to Kirby's height and the yellow strap was often removed.
Kirby with his Meta Knight coloration in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS
Meta Knight's insignia
His pauldrons always have a yellow lining and often gray in color, but are sometimes dark blue. In Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Kirby's Return to Dream Land, his left pauldron bears a version of his insignia, which is an "M" in front of a upward-pointing sword. Meta Knight's cape is blue in all instances except Super Smash Bros. Brawl, where it is purple. 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 black shoes with violet sabatons over them instead of plain violet shoes, giving him a much more complex and well-armored appearance.
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 in Kirby: Squeak Squad and Kirby Super Star Ultra. His armor also has a number of small but noticeable cuts, nicks and other signs of battle-scarring 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). His eyes also change color with his emotions in the anime. When they are blue, he feels happy or content; pink, he is amused, or something grabbed his attention; green, he is in deep thought, focused on something, or solving a problem. When they turn dark red, he is angry, or possibly disturbed or suspicious. If they ever flash a mix of colors, he feels all the emotions that he is flashing.
In a released concept art, Meta Knight is shown with a greatly different design; in it, he instead has red armor, a horned red helmet and insect-like wings, making him look more like a butterfly.
Personality
Due to Meta Knight's way of doing things and his often-hidden intentions, the relationship between Kirby and Meta Knight is unpredictable in nature, and range from being bitter rivals to being steadfast allies to one another and can change at a moment's notice. Meta Knight is a playable character in many spin-offs, and is presented in many of the newer games as a "friend or foe" character.
As a knight, he respects a code of chivalry, and always offers Kirby a sword whenever he fights against him. However, if the player waits long enough without collecting the sword, it will disappear, and the battle will proceed. In Meta Knightmare Ultra, he is shown trying to become the greatest warrior in the galaxy, suggesting he prides himself in his strength and skill, yet wishes to continue to grow stronger.
The Revenge of Meta Knightsub-game reveals that Meta Knight abhors laziness, to the point where he was willing to start a war and take over Dream Land just to end what he perceived as a "lazy lifestyle." This is only seen in Kirby Super Star and Kirby Super Star Ultra, and it may have only been included for the purpose of having Meta Knight be perceived as an antagonist.
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.
Meta Knight often waits on high platforms such as this while waiting for Kirby to grab the sword.
In the anime, his personality is much different than in the games. He is calm, collected, and is much more clearly on Kirby's side here, because they are both Star Warriors, and Meta Knight needs to help him for the greater good. He is shown to passively observe events, and only interfere when needed. However, his training methods are often harsh and dangerous, often putting Kirby's life in danger, but they always manage to make Kirby stronger. Unlike in the games, he does not seem to hold any opinion towards the laziness of others, and is much less mysterious, as his motives in the anime are rarely ever hidden.
In both the games and the anime, he is often seen standing on high areas, platforms, tree branches, and statues. This may be a strategical move to prevent being attacked before the battle or to get a better view, but the reason is never officially explained.
Weaponry
Dimensional Cape
Meta Knight's Dimensional Cape (as named in Super Smash Bros. Brawl) allows him to manipulate space, and is a powerful weapon in its own right. His signature cape never received its official name, until relatively recently, much like Galaxia.
Meta Knight most commonly wraps it around himself to teleport away. This tends to happen whenever his mask is destroyed and face is revealed, or when he knows he has been defeated. The cape allows him to warp and teleport short distances, and it can be used to surpise an opponent, catching them off guard by teleporting and attacking from behind.
In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Meta Knight can also use it to ebb out of reality for a short time. In his Final Smash Attack, the cape is used to petrify his enemies and cover the surrounding area in complete darkness, leaving them open to attacks from his sword.
Super Smash Bros. Brawl and his trophy in Super Smash Bros. Melee suggested that the pair of bat-like wings which grant him flight and gliding capabilities are really an extension of the cape. This is also demonstrated in Kirby's Epic Yarn, where the cape is seen fluidly transforming into the wings in Meta Knight's yarn form. This is not consistently the case, however. In older games and in Kirby's Return to Dream Land, he is seen throwing his cape aside, revealing that his wings are underneath the cape. However, in Kirby Super Star and its remake, Meta Knight throws off his cape, but he uses the cape again after he is defeated. This hints that Meta Knight's cape may be magic in nature, and able to be summoned at any time to escape from tough situations.
The sword Galaxia is a solid gold blade with a ruby embedded in its hilt, with anywhere between 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 MasterCopy Ability in Kirby & The Amazing Mirror.
In the anime the sword has sacred origins, having been created by a race of light and a fire god, Photron.
Games
Kirby's Adventure and Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land
Meta Knight in Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land
Meta Knight debuted in Kirby's Adventure as a minor character and a boss. When Nightmare tries to take control of Dream Land by corrupting the Fountain of Dreams, King Dedede entrusts Meta Knight with a piece of the broken Star Rod because he knows that his powers and his followers, the Meta-Knights, would prove to be a valuable asset against Nightmare's forces. He appears again in the game's remake, Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land, with the same role, with his updated design similar to Kirby Super Star.
Throughout the game, Meta Knight sometimes helps Kirby by giving him invincibility candy (only clear in Kirby's Adventure), but also hinders his progress by summoning his foot soldiers against him. By the time Kirby reaches Orange Ocean, Meta Knight challenges Kirby personally before he can reach Rainbow Resort and later the Fountain of Dreams. Meta Knight's true intentions can only be speculated, but it appears that he wishes to prepare Kirby for his final confrontation against Nightmare.
Whenever he fights Kirby, Meta Knight always gives Kirby a sword to fight with (which Kirby must collect in order to fight him). Meta Knight attacks Kirby with his sword as well as by brute force via charging into him; Meta Knight can also block attacks which are thrown his way (becoming increasingly frequent as he loses health). Regarded as one of the most difficult bosses in Kirby's Adventure, the fight against Meta Knight was made significantly easier in the remake. Additionally, his moves are highly telegraphed and thus can be predicted and countered with enough close attention.
During the fight, it is not possible for Kirby to lose the Sword ability, and the ability he had earlier (only if Kirby takes the sword with the ability still in his immediate possession: viable discarded abilities do not count) will be restored after completing the Meta Knight boss fight stage: this is true for both the Main Game and Boss Endurance.
Achieving 100% completion in Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land in Extra Mode unlocks the Meta Knightmare sub-game. Meta Knightmare is the same as the regular game, but the player controls Meta Knight instead of Kirby. Meta Knight plays through the first seven levels and even fights another Meta Knight at the end of Orange Ocean. Due to the fact that Meta Knightmare is a sub-game, the player is unable to save throughout the adventure and must complete it in one sitting from the beginning to the end.
Kirby Super Star and Kirby Super Star Ultra
Meta Knight in Kirby Super Star.
Before the release of Kirby Super Star, Meta Knight was still considered an obscure and underdeveloped character in the series. Although Meta Knight managed to make an appearance in the spin-off, Kirby's Avalanche, he missed out on Kirby's Dream Land 2 completely (as Kirby'sDream Land 2 was developed by a completely different staff than Kirby's Adventure or Kirby's Avalanche). Kirby Super Star's release in 1996 features him as the antagonist with his own sub-game named Revenge of Meta Knight. This is considered to be his most well-known appearance in the series yet, which attributed to much of his popularity and subsequent appearances, which are based on this particular emergence. This is also his only role to date where he does not have clear good intentions behind his antagonistic character, which gave him his reputation as a villain.
Revenge of Meta Knight
Meta Knight prepares for battle.
In Revenge of Meta Knight, Meta Knight intends to dominate Dream Land to put an end to its lazy lifestyle. With help from the Meta-Knights, Meta Knight's ultimate weapon, the Halberd, spreads its wings and takes to the sky, but Kirby intervenes and attacks the Halberd. Kirby boards the Halberd, which infuriates Meta Knight, so he ends up blasting him down into the ocean below with the Halberd's jets. Kirby gains a Warp Star and attempts to board again, but is shot down by Combo Cannon and lands in the forest. With the help of Dyna Blade, Kirby boards the battleship once more, and destroys it piece by piece. With his crew beaten and his ship losing altitude fast, Meta Knight eventually decides to fight Kirby himself.
Again, he offers Kirby a sword, but this time the player can refuse it if they so desire by not taking it within several seconds. Doing this makes the battle longer, which is potentially dangerous due to the time limit. Meta Knight can parry attacks with his sword during the battle, and summon giant tornadoes to send Kirby up in the air and do damage. Some of his sword slash attacks can be inhaled and spat back at him.
After being defeated, he quickly departs to recover, giving Kirby time to escape with a dutiful Wheelie that he freed earlier. Before he can do so however, Meta Knight returns, transforms his cape into wings and flies after him, and the three escape right before the Halberd crashes into the sea below, ending the sub-game.
Meta Knightmare Ultra
Meta Knight appears in Kirby Super Star Ultra, reprising his role from the original game. He is a playable character in the Meta Knightmare Ultra sub-game, which is the equivalent of the Meta Knightmare sub-game in Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land. In the original Meta Knightmare, he goes through the levels of Kirby's Adventure, but in Meta Knightmare Ultra, he goes through each original sub-game instead (save for The Arena, Gourmet Race and sub-games). Although progress can be saved this time, the player must select "new game" to replay the sub-game after beating it.
By taking out enemies with his sword, Meta Knight accumulates points. He can spend them on four abilities activated on the touch screen. The abilities are:
Mach Tornado: Has a similar function to Crash but does slightly more damage.
There are cutscenes at the start and end of each sub-game that he plays through, and a few parts are skipped. Namely, he does not fight himself, unlike in the original Meta Knightmare. The Halberd inexplicably reappears and still ends up being destroyed, however. After completing Milky Way Wishes, he summons Galactic Nova and makes a wish to fight the greatest warrior in the Galaxy. Nova grants the wish by summoning Galacta Knight, an immaculate warrior sealed away long ago, who fights against Meta Knight as the final boss.
Meta Knight appears in the sub-game Samurai Kirby, where he is the final and most difficult opponent. When he is defeated, Kirby knocks off his mask with a sword, shocking him and causing him to quickly cover his face with his hands.
Meta Knight appears in the sub-game Helper To Hero in Kirby Super Star Ultra, but he does not offer a sword due to the fact that helpers cannot obtain abilities without Kirby.
Meta Knight appears in the sub-game Kirby on the Draw as one of the targets that Kirby must shoot to gain points. Successfully striking him will earn the player 100 points.
Kirby's Pinball Land
Meta Knight appears in Kirby's Pinball Land in the top stage of Kracko Land. He can only be found if the player has beaten King Dedede at least once. When Kirby defeats Mr. Bright, it will turn to night and Mr. Shine will appear with a wall of stars. If Kirby destroys all the stars without defeating Mr. Shine first, the sound of the microphone power-up from Kirby's Dream Land will be heard and Meta Knight will appear in the center of the stage. He does not move and cannot be hit.
Kirby's Avalanche
Meta Knight, who is referred to by name for the first time via a voiceover, acts as the twelfth and penultimate challenger in the main game, after Kracko and before King Dedede. This was the first game to use his modern blue-and-purple appearance, and swings his sword as a taunt towards Kirby. When defeated, he puts the sword away and waves a white flag in surrender. His dialogue with Kirby goes as follows:
Meta Knight: "None shall pass! En garde, Kirby!"
Kirby: "But I have no Sword!?!"
Meta Knight: "Oh, you're so right... Then Avalanche it is, ha ha ha ha!!"
Kirby & The Amazing Mirror
Meta Knight in Kirby & The Amazing Mirror.
In Kirby & The Amazing Mirror, Meta Knight senses danger in the Mirror World and rushes off to protect it. After some time, a shadowy figure resembling Meta Knight suddenly drops from the sky and splits resident hero Kirby into four separate entities (Kirby can refer to each individual or all of them collectively). Kirby follows him and the adventure begins. Meta Knight isn't seen until well into the game at level eight, Radish Ruins, where Kirby fights what appears to be Meta Knight in a duel. Unlike in previous fights where he offers Kirby a sword, this time he doesn't, and the battle begins immediately. He is more aggressive and uses stronger versions of attacks that he used in Kirby Super Star and its remake Kirby Super Star Ultra.
It turns out that the Meta Knight that Kirby fought in the Ruins wasn't the real Meta Knight at all, but a copy of his dark side known as Dark Meta Knight — the real Meta Knight was sealed within the Dimension Mirror. Dark Meta Knight has a greyed-out color scheme, but otherwise has similar apparel and eye color to Meta Knight himself. ? ? ? is the name that Dark Meta Knight had when he was disguised as Meta Knight.
Dark Meta Knight later makes a reappearance as the penultimate boss. Once the Kirbys enter the Dimension Mirror, Dark Meta Knight engages them in battle once more. Right then, the real Meta Knight shows up standing on a large pillar and reveals Dark Meta Knight for the fraud that he is.
After Dark Meta Knight literally breaks into pieces, Kirby gets sucked into a Warp Hole which leads to Dark Mind. Meta Knight, who was watching the battle the whole time, quickly helps Kirby by throwing his sword into the Warp Hole. Kirby catches the sword and gains the Master ability. After Dark Mind is destroyed, Meta Knight drops the sword (referred to as the Master Sword) in the Central Circle, signifying the end of the game. However, since he uses his sword in other games, he might have obtained a new one or retrieved it. Within the game, he appears wielding his sword in cutscenes as well as in one of Magic's roulette options. Kirby can be seen possessing the Master ability in almost all of these situations; this means the Master ability is either Meta Knight's original sword, a previously-unknown duplicate of the original, or his aforementioned "new" sword (a copy).
Kirby: Squeak Squad
Meta Knight absconds with the presumed shortcake in Kirby: Squeak Squad
In Kirby: Squeak Squad, Meta Knight once again plays a friendlier role, although is completely misunderstood at first. Although he doesn't come into play until later in the adventure, Squeak Squad is one of his most heroic roles in the series to date.
Meta Knight appears at the end of Ice Island. After Kirby defeats Daroach and reclaims the chest presumably holding his precious Strawberry Shortcake, Meta Knight comes out of nowhere and steals it, and travels to a hidden place in or near Orange Ocean called the Secret Sea. The passageway to the Secret Sea is blocked by a door that can only be opened by collecting the five sacred Star Seals. Meta Knight is confronted as the boss of the seventh level, Secret Sea.
Shortly before the boss battle, Meta Knight reactivates the Halberd, which flies him and Kirby up into Gamble Galaxy. The Halberd is where Meta Knight is fought, and is the setting for the last few levels of Secret Sea as well as Gamble Galaxy's first level. Meta Knight himself doesn't offer a sword before the battle, but in the room before him Kirby can access a Bubble with the Sword ability inside it. The stars Meta Knight kicks up during the fight will also grant the Sword ability.
He is very offensive in this game, and attacks almost non-stop, making it difficult for Kirby to get hits in. If attacked head-on he will simply strike back instead of blocking. He employs the same attacks used in previous games, but also gains a variety of new elemental moves, such as striking his sword down to create an electrical charge around him and shooting crescents of fire across the screen. He is also significantly faster in every way, including how fast he turns around, making it harder to attack him from behind. However, he is knocked back more easily, and can be pinned in a corner if he is hit with strong attacks in fast succession.
Near the end of the game, Meta Knight's intentions are finally revealed. It turns out that the chest didn't contain the shortcake, but instead the Lord of Darkness, Dark Nebula. Meta Knight was really trying to stop the spread of evil during the game, which is a possible reason for his more aggressive attack style and new attacks as he was actually trying to stop Kirby rather than prepare or otherwise train him as he has done previously. This also explains why he didn't give him a sword, as Meta Knight was actually intending to win.
Kirby Air Ride
“
Meta Knight with wings spread. Fear the sword!”
— Meta Knight's Flavor Text • Kirby Air Ride
Meta Knight appears as an unlockable racer in Kirby Air Ride. He handles with a permanent mix of the Sword and Wing abilities, and is unlocked in Air Ride by gliding for 30 minutes total in the air, and in City Trial's Free Run mode by breaking open 1000 boxes.
Like the Wagon Star, Meta Knight cannot charge or boost and has a bit of skid. He also has below average HP, weight, and steering, but he more than makes up for these shortcomings in other areas, especially in offense and gliding ability. His speed is average, and he has the second best acceleration in the game (behind the Swerve Star and tied with the Wheelie Scooter).
Meta Knight, as he appears in Kirby: Canvas Curse.
Meta Knight never appears story-wise in Kirby: Canvas Curse, but after unlocking King Dedede, the player can buy him as a playable character in Medal Swap for 25 medals. He moves twice as fast as Kirby, floats in water and is very light and bouncy, but has the lowest amount of Health Points at only three. Meta Knight uses an invisible sword to defeat his enemies; players can hear the sound of him using it when he rolls into an enemy, as well as seeing white "slash lines" around him upon dashing or landing a blow. His mask also appears in Paint Panic.
Kirby's Epic Yarn
Meta Knight appears in Kirby's Epic Yarn. After the player defeats King Dedede, the cutscene movie shows Meta Knight noticing strange changes in the Dream Land landscape while aboard the Halberd. Yin-Yarn ambushes him and turns him into yarn, making him the boss guarding the magic yarn of Space Land, the seventh and final piece of Patch Land. When the player fights him, he is being controlled by Yin-Yarn (via magical swords) and his eyes flicker rapidly between purple and yellow when he is not attacking.
Meta Knight does not use Galaxia this time, but has four different swords provided by Yin-Yarn. As he uses up his yarn swords, Meta Knight's attacks grow more and more severe, firing multiple sword beams (blue), covering a whole half of the screen with fire (purple), and he can summon tornadoes when he is down to his last one (red). His slashing attacks can only be dodged, but he is vulnerable to attack right after. Upon getting hit, Meta Knight falls backwards, and Kirby can disarm him by using the yarn whip on the button on his sword. After being defeated, Meta Knight is freed from Yin-Yarn's possession and disappears into his cape. He reappears in the next cutscene, apologizing to Kirby for attacking, and explains the situation in Dream Land. Kirby, Prince Fluff, Meta Knight and King Dedede go to Dream Land to stop Yin-Yarn, and he does not appear again until Kirby fights Mega Yin-Yarn, where Meta Knight flies overhead and drops the Tankbotmetamortex for Kirby.
Meta Knight is absent from the game's main storyline, but he does appear in two of the sub-games. In the Strato Patrol EOS, he is the penultimate boss. He attacks by charging horizontally from one side of the screen to the other, going downward each time until he reaches the bottom. He can also create five illusions of himself that will fire sword beams, though the illusions can be destroyed before they attack. Meta Knight himself can also fire sword beams and transform into a tornado to hit the Kirbys.
In Kirby Quest, he appears as the final boss of Chapter 3 and as one of the last opponents in Chapter 4 (provided the player didn't unlock the fight with Galaxia). He attacks with a sword slash or a powerful tornado attack. He fights alone in Chapter 3, but is backed up by Sword Knight and Blade Knight in Chapter 4. However, Sword Knight and Blade Knight have over 2,000 less HP than their master.
Meta Knight is a playable character in multiplayer mode as well as in the Arena. He assists Kirby, King Dedede, and Waddle Dee in reconstructing the Lor Starcutter. Gameplay-wise, he is able to use Sword Kirby's attacks, as well as the Shuttle Loop, Hover Flap, and Dive-Bomb, moves exclusive to Wing, though the former behaving more like it did in Super Smash Bros. Brawl than it does for Wing. True to his vigilant character, he is always the first to notice something unusual in cutscenes. He is the only character in the group not to shake hands with Magolor, instead keeping his cape wrapped around himself (much like in the anime). He has two moves carried over from Super Smash Bros. Brawl (as well as basic sword attacks). This shows that his Super Smash Bros. stats may have been used as his moveset so he wouldn't be exactly like Sword Kirby.
Meta Knight takes on his classic role in Kirby's Adventure and Kirby Super Star. Aside from the original games, his 8-bit sprite appears as a golden statue in History Hall. He also greets Kirby after the player beats the New Challenge Stages, along with other familiar faces like King Dedede and Bandana Dee.
Meta Knight, though not present in the story, appears in this game as one of Stone Kirby's transformations, where he turns into a statue of Bandana Waddle Dee, King Dedede, and Meta Knight. He also appears as a circus balloon, via Circus Kirby, as well as showing up in the final 100% movie in the crowd along with Galacta Knight, Magolor, Shadow Kirby, and many other characters from the game. Additionally, Kirby can adopt Meta Knight's color scheme as an optional palette swap in the Kirby Fighters sub-game. Meta Knight's mask appears in the downloadable Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe sub-game as an unlockable feature.
Meta Knight is standing silently on a hilltop one day, and (like in previous appearances) is among the first to notice the mysterious new invaders attacking Dream Land. He attempts to stop them with an assault from his Halberd, but the ship is quickly shot down by the much more advanced weaponry.
After Halberd was shot down, he was captured and taken control of by the invaders. He reappears as the boss of Gigabyte Grounds, under the name Mecha Knight, showing new armaments, such as having a jet pack to help his mobility, a technologically enhanced Galaxia firing off larger and stronger sword beams, shooting missiles at Kirby, firing lasers from a machine attached to his visor and creating an electric field around himself. Despite these new enhancements, Kirby still defeats Mecha Knight, and he collapses into a deep ravine after his loss.
He appears once again, but enhanced further at Access Ark. Summoned by Susie once again, Mecha Knight, now Mecha Knight+, fights Kirby at Haltmann's room. He can now increase the energy released by Galaxia, significantly improving his range in the fight, and will occasionally fly into the background to stab at Kirby's location. At half health, he will raise an arm from his back, resembling a scorpion's tail, and he uses this new limb to grab or strike Kirby. Once again, however, Kirby emerges victorious and shatter's Mecha Knight's helm, breaking the mind control.
Shortly after Kirby defeats Haltmann, the Star Dream rides into space, and Meta Knight assists by allowing Kirby to use his Robobot Armor to absorb the Halberd. He later joins Kirby as he chases and defeats the Star Dream. In the last moments of the fight, Halberd is damaged by a strike from the Star Dream, and Meta Knight ejects Kirby and shoots him straight at the Star Dream. After peace is restored to Popstar, Meta Knight's shadow can be briefly seen over a sleeping Kirby, possibly having helped Kirby down to the ground, before he flies off just before Kirby awakes. He is last seen patrolling the skies aboard the Halberd.
He is the central character of the sub-game Meta Knightmare Returns. Similarly to previous plots, Meta Knight progresses through the stages Kirby would've passed as a test to his skills. In the later parts of the game, the Star Dream will test him by summoning multiple sword users for Meta Knight to fight, such as clones of Sectonia and Dark Matter as well as Galacta Knight himself.
Meta Knight, as he appears in the Kirby of the Stars Pilot
In the Kirby of the Stars Pilot, which is the pilot anime of Kirby: Right Back at Ya!, Meta Knight appears as one of the enemies that appear out of the plumes of smoke when the sky turns dark. In this appearance, his mask is larger, his shoulder pads are more curled, and his gloves are smaller. Galaxia does not have its prominent points. He is defeated when Kirby spits Captain Stitch at him. This is the only time where Meta Knight is seen flying in the anime. He never flies in Kirby: Right Back at Ya!.
In Kirby: Right Back at Ya!, Meta Knight was the only known surviving member of the Star Warriors until "Island of the Lost Warrior", when Kit Cosmos was discovered. He settled in Dream Land and became King Dedede's servant along with his followers Sword Knight and Blade Knight, thinking that Dedede's penchant for monsters would hopefully bring a young Star Warrior to Dream Land to join forces with him to defeat Nightmare. He secretly constructs the Halberd throughout the years under Castle Dedede, which requires more crew than he currently has allies, to prepare for the eventual confrontation against Nightmare, but this is not revealed until nearing the series' conclusion. He teaches the new Star Warrior, Kirby, to make him strong enough to defeat Nightmare one day. Compared to the games, his intentions are much clearer - he is undoubtedly on Kirby's side, though he doesn't always show it when danger looms, but this is because he wants Kirby to grow stronger and braver. Throughout the episodes, his character is given more depth, in addition to revealing his past. It is in Kirby: Right Back at Ya! where his sword was directly referred to as Galaxia for the first time.
His eyes change according to his mood. When he is proud, his eyes turn blue, as seen in "Here Comes the Son". When Meta Knight's eyes are supposedly closed, his eyes turn dark orange, and when he is angry, his eyes turn red, as seen in the episode "Scare Tactics - Part II". His eyes turn a shimmering green when he is suspicious or problem solving, as seen in "Escargoon Squad". If he is totally serious about something, his eyes turn grass green, like seen in "A Blockbuster Battle". When his eyes are pink, he is amused, shown in "Snack Attack - Part I". He is extremely stealthy, observant, and well-informed, since no one ever sees him unless he speaks or shows himself, and he knows the events happening around him well enough. He knows every single one of Kirby's abilities, though he was a little unsure about Mike, but still guessed correctly. It took him a while to figure out Throw, but when Kirby started throwing Whippy he was easily able to identify it.
Uncharacteristically, he likes watching Channel DDD, although whether it is because it amuses him somewhat or whether it is to try and catch Dedede's scheming early is unknown. He also may have a sweet tooth, as he has a jar of candy in his bedroom, and seems to like tea as well, as seen in the episode "Escar-Gone".
Meta Knight makes an appearance in almost every episode, even when his only role is to explain Kirby's abilities.
Meta Knight is voiced by Atsushi Kisaichi in the Japanese version of the anime, and speaks with a smattering of random English words in his Japanese. He is voiced by Eric Stuart in the English dub by 4Kids. In the dub, Meta Knight speaks with a Spanish accent, possibly as a reference to Zorro, or to Inigo Montoya from The Princess Bride, both characters being Spanish-speaking swordsmen.
In "Kirby's Duel Role", he states that he wouldn't help Kirby, yet he almost never fought him since.
In the Super Smash Bros. series
Meta Knight's artwork in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
Meta Knight is not a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Melee, but he appears as one of the collectible trophies. There are notable mistakes and inconsistencies regarding his description in the game. On his trophy, it states that his first appearance was in Kirby Super Star when it was actually in Kirby's Adventure, and his trophy is labelled as "Meta-Knight" (note the hyphen, which instead usually refers to members of his army). His body is depicted as silver and his cape purple when they are blue and purple in the Kirby series.
Meta Knight is one of the playable fighters in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. He is fast and light, and can jump up to six times like Kirby and King Dedede can, using his wings. He can glide as well, and fights using Galaxia, which turns bright white when used. Some of his moves are based off that of his previous games. His flagship, the Halberd, appears as a stage, and plays an important role in the Subspace Emissary, the game's story mode.
Meta Knight is infamous in the Super Smash Bros. community due to his fast, high priority (or more accurately, non-priority) attacks, along with his ability to jump more than twice, his ability to glide and the potential for all his special moves to be used to recover from being knocked off the stage. Meta Knight is widely regarded as the most powerful character in the game due to these characteristics, and has also always been first place on the rapidly changing tier list (also tying into his powerful down smash and glide attack). Because of this, he received some significant nerfs in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U. However, he was also given some improvements; overall, he is much more balanced than he was in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and is still a highly ranked character.
It should also be noted that all of Meta Knight's as while special moves can be used to recover as aforementioned, all of them put him into a helpless freefall state in midair like with other similar moves, and is the only character who has all his special moves put him in such a state (allowing reckless use of such attacks to leave him open to punishes).
Meta Knight's palette swaps in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. All of them come from those in Kirby Air Ride.
Meta Knight's palette swaps in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U
Moveset
Meta Knight's attacks are among the fastest in the game, and some even pack a small punch to boot unlike most weak fast attacks; in fact, Meta Knight is one of only three characters that can perform three aerials in one short hop. His special moves are based on his attacks in the Kirby games. In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, each special move can be customized.
Mach Tornado.
Shuttle Loop.
Drill Rush.
Dimensional Cape.
Galaxia Darkness.
1/5
Neutral attack: A variation of the Multi-sword attack from the Sword ability. In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, Meta Knight ends this move with an uppercutting back-flip slash.
Up strong/tilt: A spiraling variation of his iconic up thrust.
Neutral aerial: Meta Knight's own variation of the Sword Spin move from the Sword ability, called the Knight Spin.
Up throw: Resembles Ninja Kirby's Air Drop, only without an explosion of any sort.
Mach Tornado (Standard/Neutral Special Move): Similar to Kirby's Tornado ability. Meta Knight whirls either left or right in a vicious tornado. Mashing the button allows him to rise up slightly and extend the duration of his attack. As this is Meta Knight's Standard Special Attack, Kirby will be able to use this when Kirby uses the "Inhale" move on Meta Knight. After spinning for about three seconds, he will launch any opponents who were caught in the tornado. If the Special Button is tapped repeatedly, Meta Knight/Kirby can hover while using this move and gain height. However in the 3DS/Wii U versions, this move is nerfed notably with more ending lag, less favorable hitboxes and less duration without any button taps.
Drill Rush (Side Special Move): Similar to Kirby's Master ability. Drill Rush is the name of Meta Knight's Forward/Side B attack. Meta Knight spiral-dives sideways with his blade outstretched. He performs a combination lasting up to a good 2 seconds, knocking his opponent upward, and pulls back when finished. Meta Knight can change the course of the attack, as he is shown using the same attack upward, allowing it to be used as a recovery. However, after finishing the move, if Meta Knight is off of the stage, he will not be able to recover due to putting him in helpless state. After completing the move, he is vulnerable for a second if on the ground, as he cannot defend himself.
Shuttle Loop (Up Special Move): Similar to Wing Kirby's Shuttle Loop maneuver. Meta Knight launches himself up into the air, sword first. He can then use his ability to glide afterwards, making it even more like Wing. The player can tilt the direction by pressing left/right. Can be used to recover from being knocked away, and enables Meta Knight to glide. The first frame of the move as Meta Knight is rising up even has some decent knockback power. In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Shuttle Loop no longer allows Meta Knight to glide, but instead can hit twice where he flies with another upward thrust, making it a more solid kill move at higher heights and/or percents (and racking up more damage).
Dimensional Cape (Down Special Move): Dimensional Cape (Dimension Mantle in Japanese) is the name of Meta Knight's Down B attack. It allows Meta Knight to teleport away from danger by concealing himself in his cape to warp away to a set location. Holding a directional position determines where he will teleport to and pressing the attack button after teleporting allows Meta Knight to attack straight after using it. Use of this move can prove to be strategic. However, like his other three special moves, using it in the air will render him vulnerable via the helpless state, and sweetspot-grabbing ledges with it isn't very likely. In the 3DS/Wii U version, the attack Meta Knight performs gains a notable increase in damage and knockback, allowing him to send foes off the stage easier with the attack and for it to be a potential kill move (but on the flipside, a bug that allows the player to infinitely delay the Dimensional Cape has been fixed).
Galaxia Darkness (Final Smash): His Final Smash is known as Galaxia Darkness. He swirls his cape out in a wide sweep trying to hit his opponent with it. When Meta Knight hits with the cape, the stage turns dark, says "Behold..." or "Know my power...", and then Meta Knight slices strongly through the darkness. Enemies get launched helplessly. This attack affects everyone near Meta Knight (even team members)- not just the person who is trapped in his cape. However, the person(s) trapped in the cape take the brunt of the blow. The ability will only hit enemies trapped in or nearby the cape. In 3DS/Wii U, the move no longer hits Meta Knight's own teammates if Team Attack (Friendly Fire) is turned off.
The Japanese version has Atsushi Kisaichi as his voice actor, reprising his role from the anime. In the English version, he is voiced by Eric Newsome (who gives a slight accent akin to the anime's English dub). A sticker of him from Kirby: Squeak Squad and Kirby: Canvas Curse appears in this game.
Role in the Subspace Emissary
Meta Knight in the "Subspace Emissary" mode
Meta Knight is first featured in The Subspace Emissary attacking a lone Marth outside of a large castle. He quickly realizes that Marth is not his enemy as they are both surrounded by Primids. After a successful battle, both warriors chase the Ancient Minister carrying a Subspace bomb. They fail to destroy the bomb, but Ike appears and he uses his Aether technique to catch the Minister off guard and destroy the bomb. With the bomb destroyed, all three head back to the castle to clear out any remaining Primids.
Later, they are all seen traveling the wastelands together and battling Galleom. After defeating Galleom, Meta Knight saves Lucas and the Pokémon Trainer from a giant freefall, and begins to ascend a large cliff face, followed by the Ice Climbers (who see his ascent as a racing challenge), in order to reach the Battleship Halberd. At the summit, Lucario challenges Meta Knight to a sparring contest. After the contest, both board the Halberd which has just shaken off the defeated Great Fox.
The pair run into Solid Snake while on board and join forces with him to take back the Halberd. After rescuing Peach and Zelda, the trio continue on to the control deck. There they discover that the ship is being piloted by a gang of Shadow Bug Mr. Game & Watches who fuse together (after being knocked out of the bridge by Snake) to form a gigantic metallic monster called Duon. Once Duon is defeated, Mr. Game & Watch joins the group, along with Peach, Zelda, Fox, and Falco.
Meta Knight takes back control of the Halberd and reunites with the members from other groups. The aircraft of the other heroes are placed inside the Halberd, which heads towards the Subspace Battleship with all of the Super Smash Bros. heroes on board. After using the Subspace Battleship's main cannon to create another Subspace portal, Ganondorf spots the Halberd on the horizon and orders the battleship to open fire. The Halberd is struck down, but the heroes are able to escape on board Samus's Gunship, Captain Falcon's Falcon Flyer, Olimar's Hocotate ship, and Fox and Falco's Arwings. Kirby destroys the Subspace Battleship by ramming through it with the legendary Dragoon racing machine and the heroes enter Subspace to pursue Ganondorf and Bowser.
Meta Knight is turned into a trophy by Tabuu along with the rest of the Super Smash Bros. heroes upon their entrance into Subspace. He is later revived by Kirby and rejoins the others in the fight against Tabuu.
In production, Meta Knight's backstory revealed that the reason he did not have control of the Halberd was because he was attacked by the Subspace Army. He was able to hold them off until King Dedede attacked him, causing him to lose his ship to the enemy. This would have taken place before the events of the adventure mode proper, but the scenes could not be finished for various reasons.
Snake's Codecs
In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, if a player plays as Snake in the stage Shadow Moses Island and quickly inputs down taunt (referred to as a Smash Taunt), Snake can enter a conversation, talking about one of the present fighters, with his support team, along with Slippy as a cameo when talking about Falco. Here is the following conversation if Kirby is present:
SNAKE: Mei Ling, there's a mysterious masked man flying around here with a sword...
MEI LING: That's Meta Knight. He's a knight from Dream Land. They say his sword swings can break the sound barrier. Whatever you do, don't get caught in one of his furious barrage attacks. He also commands the Halberd, a flying battleship.
SNAKE: Mm, I've seen it. The bow looks like his mask. What kind of weirdo puts his face on the bow of a ship, anyway?
MEI LING: Umm, maybe he's a little narcissistic. Kind of like someone else I know.
SNAKE: Really... And who would that be?
MEI LING: Use your imagination...
Palutena's Guidance
In Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, if a player plays as Pit in the stage Palutena's Temple and inputs a Smash Taunt, Pit can enter a conversation, talking about one of the present fighters, with Palutena and Viridi (and Chrom as a cameo when talking about Robin). Here is the following conversation if Meta Knight is present:
PIT: I wonder what Meta Knight looks like under that mask.
VIRIDI: Apparently quite similar to Kirby.
PIT: If he took off his mask, could he inhale things too?
VIRIDI: Maybe. And maybe he has Kirby's Copy Ability as well.
PIT: So if a maskless Meta Knight copied a masked Meta Knight...
VIRIDI: Well, then he'd just be back where he started.
PALUTENA: Anyway, be careful of his quick blade and his spinning attacks. They don't have a lot of power, so use your shield until you see an opening.
In NES Remix 2
One of the game's challenges is to win the Kirby's Adventure Meta Knight battle. Meta Knight inflicts two bars of damage with each sword strike, so Kirby must defeat him without getting hit three times.
— Meta Knight • Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Unused victory quote)
Related Quotes
“
The mysterious head of the Meta-Knights, he wields his sword with dignity. He delivered his sword to Kirby and demanded single combat in a show of knightly honor; his strict adherence to his code of ethics makes him a rarity in Dream Land. Sometimes he throws off his cape in battle. It occasionally transforms into wings.”
The head of the Meta-Knights, and something of a rival to Kirby. He's quite an accomplished swordsman. Following his code of knightly ethics, he once delivered his sword to Kirby and demanded single combat. His giant cape transforms into wings, giving him the power of flight. He's shown his face briefly before, but his relationship to Kirby is still a mystery.”
— Trophy description • Super Smash Bros. Brawl
“
Unlimited power in your blade. Command your called knight. Train and journey the cosmos!”
Kirby's mysterious rival, this masked swordsman appears in several Kirby games. His cape transforms into wings to grant him flight. In Smash Bros., his quick sword skills and aerial agility set him apart. He can jump five times in a row, and he has a special move to soar higher.”
A mysterious masked swordsman from the Kirby series. His cape can turn into wings, which gives him the ability to fly. His swift swordplay and ability to stay in the air give him an edge in this game. He can combine five mid-air jumps with a special move to make recovering a cinch. If you use him, try to keep battle airborne.”
— Trophy description, PAL version • Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS
“
Meta Knight's Dimensional Cape lets you teleport, changing where you'll reappear with directional inputs and attacking by holding the button! His Mach Tornado special can draw in and attack multiple opponents. Rise by pressing the button repeatedly, and press left or right to move.”
— Trophy description • Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS
“
Meta Knight's Dimensional Cape lets you teleport. After vanishing, you can move to reappear somewhere else. You can also keep holding the button to turn it into an attack! His Mach Tornado special can mix up multiple opponents in the fray. Press the button repeatedly to rise up, and move left and right to create extra havoc.”
— Trophy description, PAL version • Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS
“
This mysterious masked swordsman helms the Battleship Halberd. He hasn't always been the most trustworthy ally, but you can count on him when you really need him. He appears in this game as a figurine.”
The masked knight has returned to fight evil while Kirby takes a much-needed nap. Collect Meta Points, and then touch the lower screen to unleash his special attacks.”
Meta Knight's Mask makes a cameo appearance as a purchasable hat in the Nintendo 3DS built-in game StreetPass Mii Plaza. A version of this mask missing Meta Knight's shoulder pauldrons can be worn by Mii Fighters in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U.[1]
A trophy of Meta Knight in Super Smash Bros. Melee makes a mistake in saying that Meta Knight debuted in Kirby Super Star. It portrays his body as silver rather than blue and misspells his name as "Meta-Knight."
Meta Knight's Up Special (Shuttle Loop) from Super Smash Bros. Brawl makes a reappearance as one of Meta Knight's moves in Kirby's Return to Dream Land and Kirby: Planet Robobot, even having a similar button set in order to use (Up + Special in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Down, Up + Attack [In quick succession] in Kirby's Return to Dream Land.)
Galacta Knight is also able to perform the Shuttle Loop during his fight in Kirby: Planet Robobot
In the anime, when Meta Knight is asleep, his eyes appear dark orange. However, in the games, when Meta Knight blinks or briefly closes his eyes his visor becomes pitch black. This is true in some episodes in the anime as well.
However, when he closes his eyes in Kirby's Return to Dream Land (or otherwise being knocked out), there are two small yellow dashes representing his eyes, rather than his visor being blacked out.
When he falls asleep in Super Smash Bros. Brawl or Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, his eyes don't change at all.
Meta Knight's model viewed in the 3D animation program 3DS Max. Here, the grayish blue in his visor around his eyes can be seen
In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, it can be observed that Meta Knight's visor is not pitch black. When standing in a certain way, it is possible to see blue coloring around his yellow eyes. The light does not go through his visor in a way that his actual eyes are seen, however.
In Kirby's Avalanche, his AI is copied from the Puyo Puyo character Rulue.
In the anime, he is portrayed with a Spanish accent.
Two of Meta Knight's palette swaps in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U resemble Galacta Knight and Dark Meta Knight.
A common misconception among fans is that Meta Knight's dark coloration in Super Smash Bros. Brawl (which also appears in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U) is based off of Dark Meta Knight. This was disproved by the Dark Meta Knight coloration present in the latter games. Meta Knight's dark gray and black palette is based off of his artwork for Kirby's Adventure.
It is unclear whether or not Meta Knight is right-handed or ambidextrous. While he is generally seen wielding Galaxia in his right hand, there are various other official depictions which have him holding it in his left hand (sprite flipping aside).
In his amiibo description on the Nintendo website, it is stated that his relation to Kirby is unknown, which implies that there may or may not be one at all, and they are simply of the same race.
In each game Meta Knight fights Kirby, he always offers him a sword, with the only exceptions being in Kirby's Epic Yarn, Kirby: Squeak Squad, and Kirby: Planet Robobot, in which he had his own reasons for doing so; In Kirby's Epic Yarn and Kirby: Planet Robobot, he was being controlled by the game's main antagonist, and in Kirby: Squeak Squad, he was deliberately preventing Dark Nebula's release and thus had to ensure his victory over Kirby (however, a SwordAbility bubble appears in the room before fighting him).
Meta Knight's circumstances in Kirby: Planet Robobot somewhat similar to King Dedede's in Kirby Triple Deluxe, as both were kidnapped by the enemy before eventually being controlled to fight Kirby, but are defeated and have their masks shattered. They then assist Kirby to get his Final Weapon to fight the true antagonist, with a little help from a traitor of the antagonist's side.
They go on their own adventures, fight their doppelgangers, improved bosses, with a knight as the final boss.
Also, in parallel to each other, King Dedede bears no involvement to Kirby: Planet Robobot's main story, in the same way Meta Knight had no bearing on Kirby: Triple Deluxe's main story. Instead, doppelgangers of them replaces their absent as bosses.
It is revealed that, according to Sword and Blade anyway, Meta Knight is apparently not a good cook in the Kirby: Right Back at Ya! episode Cooking Up Trouble, though this could also just be their own opinions, and not the actual case.
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