Meta Knight (Kirby)

Meta Knight is the tritagonist of the franchise. 
He is a masked and mysterious swordsman, who first appeared in Kirby's Adventure. Although he started out as an anti-villain, he became a hero in Kirby & the Amazing Mirror and became one of Dream Land's protectors and Kirby's friendly rival. He is also the leader of the Meta-Knights, and he owns a giant battleship, known as the Halberd.
In the Super Smash Bros. games, he is voiced by in the Japanese version, and by Eric Newsome in the English version.
==Personality==
Meta Knight is a stoic, solitary, honorable and passionate swordsman. He strives to be the greatest warrior in the galaxy, as he constantly engages in intense training, and his wish to Galactic Nova in the Meta Knightmare Ultra game mode in Kirby Super Star Ultra is to fight the greatest warrior in the galaxy and his archenemy, Galacta Knight.
He despises laziness, to the point he tried to take over Dream Land using the Halberd to end its lazy lifestyle in Kirby Super Star. For unknown reasons, he likes to hide his face. His solitude is shown when he tried to enter the Mirror World by himself to protect Dream Land.
Despite his solitude, he deeply cares about his allies, as when the Halberd is about to crash, he said "I'm sorry." after saying "You are all about to perish. Do as you please."
Most of the time, he offers Kirby a sword before fighting, unless Kirby is going to accidentally release a villain, such as Dark Nebula.
==Powers and Abilities==
Meta Knight is a very fast individual, as he can unleash a flurry of slashes at his foes. He can summon tornadoes and shockwaves by stabbing the ground.
His cape can transform into bat wings, allowing him to fly and use the Shuttle Loop ability, which lets him glide.
After being possessed by the Jamba Heart, he can create three clones of himself and use geokinesis.
Meta Knight is also a very resilient individual, as he is immediately back on his feet soon after Kirby defeats him, evident by the fact that he immediately moves back to his perch in Kirby and the Forgotten Land, has full health when you befriend him in Kirby Star Allies, and continues to pursue Kirby in Kirby Super Star. 
==Biography==
===Kirby's Adventure/Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land===
Meta Knight first appeared in the NES game Kirby's Adventure as a recurring secondary antagonist and the boss of the Orange Ocean level, where he fights Kirby to keep him from taking a piece of the Star Rod to prevent Kirby from releasing Nightmare. He sometimes sends the Meta-Knights after him, and for some reason, he also sometimes gives Kirby invincibility candies, likely to prepare him to fight Nightmare. 
In the remake, Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land, he's playable in an Extra Mode called Meta Knightmare. 
===Kirby Super Star/Kirby Super Star Ultra ===
He is the main antagonist and of the Revenge of Meta Knight mode in Kirby Super Star, in which he attempts to take over Dream Land using his battleship, the Halberd, in order to put an end to the inhabitants' lazy lifestyle. If you wait long enough, you can fight him without getting the sword. This is Meta Knight's only villainous role.
He appears in the sub-game Samurai Kirby as the final opponent.
In the remake, Kirby Super Star Ultra, he's playable in an Extra Mode called Meta Knightmare Ultra, in which he summons Galactic Nova, and wishes to fight Galacta Knight.
===Kirby & the Amazing Mirror===
In Kirby & the Amazing Mirror, Meta Knight fought his Mirror World counterpart, Dark Meta Knight, to protect Dream Land. However, he ends up trapped inside the Dimensional Mirror for the majority of the game until the Kirbys repaired the mirror to enter it themselves. Meta Knight would then help the Kirbys fight against Dark Mind by giving them his sword to use in battle.
===Kirby: Squeak Squad===
In Kirby: Squeak Squad, Meta Knight appears as a boss who's trying to keep the chest seemingly containing Kirby's strawberry shortcake out of Kirby's hands. Little did Kirby know that the chest actually contained Dark Nebula, and Meta Knight only took the chest because he didn't want Kirby to release Dark Nebula, and because of this, Meta Knight didn't give Kirby a sword before fighting.
===Kirby's Return to Dream Land/Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe===
Meta Knight appears in Kirby's Return to Dream Land as one of the main protagonists along with Kirby, King Dedede and Bandana Waddle Dee. He's also a playable character, but only P2, P3 and P4 can play as him in Story Mode. However, P1 can play as him in The Arena and The True Arena, but you must beat it with Kirby first. They meet Magolor who needed help reparing his ship. They agreed to help him by getting the missing pieces back and succeeded in doing so. Magolor then brought Meta Knight and the others to his home planet of Halcandra, where they were attacked by Landia. Magolor told them that the dragon was running rampant on Halcandra and Meta Knight and the others agreed to defeat it for him. But when they succeeded, Magolor revealed that he had been manipulating them to obtain Landia’s Master Crown so as to gain infinite power. He headed off to conquer Popstar and Meta Knight and the others followed with help from Landia, successfully defeating Magolor and subsequently making it back to Popstar.
===Kirby: Planet Robobot===
Meta Knight appears in Kirby: Planet Robobot as the deuteragonist. At the beginning of the game, Meta Knight tries to defend Dream Land, but the Halberd gets shot down by the Access Ark. Later on, he gets mechanized by Haltmann Works Co., and becomes Mecha Knight. He is upgraded to Mecha Knight+ later after its defeat. After Kirby defeats Mecha Knight+, the mask breaks, and he's free from mind control. Shortly after Star Dream's activation and revealing its intent to destroy all organic life, Meta Knight appears with the Halberd, and lets Kirby fuse it with his Robobot Armor. At the end of the game, he sends Kirby back to Popstar.
He's playable in an Extra Mode called Meta Knightmare Returns, where he goes through the story mode while Kirby is taking a nap. Near the end of this mode, he fights a clone of Dark Matter, a clone of Queen Sectonia, and Galacta Knight, all of which are summoned by Star Dream to test his strength.
===Kirby Star Allies===
Meta Knight serves as the boss of the second area, World of Miracles - Planet Popstar, and later a playable character in Kirby Star Allies. This is the result of becoming possessed by one of the Jamba Hearts that landed in Dream Land after Hyness tried and failed to summon Void Termina. Just like in Kirby Super Star, if you wait long enough, you can fight Meta Knight without taking the sword, and he'll kick the sword away before fighting you. You can also make Meta Knight kick the sword away by trying to stand on the platform Meta Knight is in. However, after he is defeated, he can join Kirby's team as a Dream Friend if he is selected at a Dream Palace with the Dream Rod. He will also join Kirby's team right away if a player throws a Friend Heart at him before his mask breaks.
===Kirby and the Forgotten Land===
In Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Meta Knight is encountered in Colosseum mode. Most notably, he serves as the final boss in the Meta Knight Cup, and is also encountered as a normal boss part way through The Ultimate Cup. Later in the game, Elfilin reveals to Kirby that while he was off saving the Waddle Dees, Meta Knight was keeping Waddle Dee Town safe by staying there to protect any of the residents who were saved from being kidnapped by the Beast Pack again. The description of the collectible figure of his shadow counterpart that's fought in The Ultimate Cup Z also reveals that Fecto Forgo tried to brainwash him to serve them just like the Beast Pack, but he was able to resist due to his strong will, another testament to his incredible power and resilience. 
===Super Smash Bros.===
====Super Smash Bros. Melee====
Meta Knight makes his debut in the Super Smash Bros. series in Super Smash Bros. Melee, appearing as a collectible trophy.
====Super Smash Bros. Brawl====
Meta Knight was one of many newcomers in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
In the Subspace Emissary, He first encounters Marth and has a brief duel with him, but the two quickly join forces to defeat the Primids attacking them. After chasing the Anicent Minister they encounter Ike, who becomes their teammate.
Later, the three swordsmen meet a robot known as Galleom and defeat him in the wilds. After saving Lucas and the Pokémon Trainer, Meta Knight and the Ice Climbers climb an ice mountain where he duels with Lucario.
After their duel, they board the Halberd and team up with Solid Snake. After retaking the Halberd by beating Duon thanks to Peach, Zelda, Fox McCloud and Falco Lombardi, Meta Knight joins the other heroes in the battle against the Subspace Army and their leader, Tabuu getting Bowser, Ganondorf, and Wario to help.
He is currently ranked first in the Super Smash Bros. Brawl tier list, and is notorious in the game due to his extreme power.
====Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Super Smash Bros. for Wii U====
Meta Knight returns as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Meta Knight appears to be heavily nerfed, and is much weaker than his Super Smash Bros. Brawl counterpart, especially with toned down frame data and the removal of Shuttle Loop's glide, although he remains viable.
====Super Smash Bros. Ultimate====
Meta Knight returns as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. He is slightly faster and stronger than he was in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. He has a new Final Smash called "Darkness Illusion" where he summons a lightning bolt to strike foes in the air, then slashes at them repetitively before launching them sideways. Meta Knight is also one of the many fighters who helps to fight Galeem and Dharkon.
For the first time in the series, Meta Knight serves an unlockable character in Ultimate, the exact opposite of being available from the start from Brawl and SSB4. He was absent from the World of Light opening cutscene, though he was vaporized and imprisoned by Galeem. Despite this result, Meta Knight presumably fell under Dharkon's control after Galeem was first defeated. He is an obligatory unlock, and is located in the Mysterious Dimension sub-area, blocking the path to Marx. After he, Ike and Greninja are rescued, the player can advance toward the boss.
In Classic Mode, Meta Knight is the 4th unlocked after Simon in Link's unlock tree. In Smash, he is the 38th character unlocked after Diddy Kong and before Snake.
His Classic Mode campaign is "Two Sides of the Same Coin", where Meta Knight battles two opponents based on characters fighting their evil counterparts, such as battling Samus Aran and Dark Samus. The penultimate match is against two other Meta Knights using the Galacta Knight and Dark Meta Knight costumes.
==Quotes==
==Trivia==
*A rearrangement of the track "Revenge of Meta Knight" from Kirby Super Star won the 2022 Grammy Award for Best Arrangement, Instrumental, or A Capella, making it the first leitmotif of a video game character to win a Grammy Award, and the second video game track to the win a Grammy Award following 2011's "Baba Yetu" from Civilization IV. Unlike "Baba Yetu", "Revenge of Meta Knight" is a rearrangement of a video game track, composed by Charlie Rosen of the 8-Bit Big Band, making it the first video game rearrangement to win a Grammy.
*According to Kirby Portal, the official Japanese website of the Kirby series, Meta Knight actually likes sweet food.
*Meta Knight's battle theme from Kirby Super Star was remixed heavily for the battle against the Sphere Doomers in Kirby's Return to Dream Land.
* Meta Knight's appearance in the Story Mode for Kirby Battle Royale has him viewing the situation from above at a remote location, with his cape wrapped around him; this role may be a reference to Kirby: Right Back at Ya!, where he generally observes the situation from a remote area while wrapped in his cape.
*In the E3 2006 trailer for Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Pit fires at Meta Knight using his bow, causing Meta Knight to enshroud himself in his cape. Doing so gives him minor invisibility and Pit's arrow soars straight through Meta Knight, apparently not affecting him. Meta Knight has never been seen utilizing this ability since then, however, this is likely just a visualization of how his Dimensional Cape works.
*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.
*Meta Knight's circumstances in Kirby: Planet Robobot parallel 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.
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