King Dedede

" “ I'll be the one to keep the peace! ” ― King Dedede • Kirby Star Allies" " “ Sing when you want to sing, dance when you want to dance! Everyday, have fun and enjoy life! That’s what it means to be a Great King! ” ― King Dedede • King Dedede’s Great Escape Strategy (translated by deafeninggardenerpanda)"

King Dedede is one of the main deuteragonists of the Kirby franchise, initially introduced as the first antagonist before quickly growing out of that role. He's the self-made king of Dream Land and a good friend of Kirby's, although he prefers to be seen as his "destined rival." He has been a major character in the series ever since the first game, Kirby's Dream Land, and despite debuting as a misguided buffoon, he has grown into one of Kirby's closest allies and a selfless hero in his own right, helping or straight up accompanying his former nemesis on many adventures.

While he may "rule over" Dream Land, he doesn't exactly care to use his power for anything other than being pampered, and even then, instead of staying reclusive in his castle up in the mountains, Dedede enjoys getting involved in activities with commoners like any other Dream Lander, such as having picnics with his friends or competing in a friendly competition. He has a massive following of Waddle Dees who serve him purely out of respect and admiration, and while he might not always show it, Dedede is appreciative and grateful of them, even being willing to risk his own life for their safety.

History of Dedede
" “ Surely King Dedede would never steal all the food in the kingdom and hoard it for himself... Why would he do such a vile deed?! ” ― King Dedede 's boss pause description • Kirby Star Allies"

In his debut, Kirby's Dream Land (as well as its remakes as "Spring Breeze" in Kirby Super Star and Kirby Super Star Ultra), King Dedede is at the top. Even before the events of the game took place, Dedede had an arena in his castle specifically for himself, with the title of champion and an adoring audience as well, implying that he's an active fighter with an impressive reputation. The power, fame, and title got to his head, and Dedede thought that he could get away with stealing all of the food in Dream Land, as well as it's Sparkling Stars, but in his hubris, he ended up being thwarted by a certain pink ball of the stars who recently flown in on the spring breeze. For the first time in his life, the Great King Dedede was humiliated, but in the secret ending of the game's Extra Mode, the one who tried to comfort him in his time of need, was surprisingly the one who took him down a peg in the first place, Kirby. Whether or not that ending is the true one or non-canon, this defeat served as a lesson for Dedede, and this lesson is one he would never forget, because as early as his second appearance, Kirby's Adventure it is shown that he has already learnt from his first encounter with Kirby. While Dedede stole the sacred Star Rod from the Fountain of Dreams, it is revealed that his intentions were to cause mischief, but to prevent the true villain, Nightmare, from hijacking it to surf the currents of the Fountain of Dreams and haunt Dream Land. Although he did treat himself to a dip in its waters as a reward, and breaking the Star Rod was only a temporary solution that had the consequence of preventing the Dream Landers from having dreams, compared to stealing his subjects’ food for personal satisfaction, he’s already made significant progress into becoming a better king. After that, he only fights Kirby when literally possessed by the powers of darkness (or self-defense in Squeak Squad's case). Then, in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, Dedede is, at first, seemingly reluctant to join Kirby and friends on their quest, but the fact that he did ending up tagging along shows that there was a part of him that wanted to join them. According to the Japanese website, his motivation for joining is because he was worried about the kids going on such a dangerous trip, and over the course of the adventure, he grows closer to them, having picnics and sitting on the beach with them, letting Kirby piggyback ride on him, helping Adeline escape from an erupting volcano, being sad to leave Ripple Star in the bad ending, and being concerned when Kirby falls over in the good ending. Whichever ending you got, Dedede would've grown attached to his new friends, but in both endings, he still tries to hide it. So, even in the early days of the series history, Dedede is shown to have a big heart and care for others, but seems to try to conceal his true feelings, likely because he wants to be seen as tough and aloof and fears that outwardly showing affection might make him look "softer." This is brought up in the Kirby Portal Personality Quiz, when you get King Dedede as the result.

" “ As a “King Dedede” type, your sense of responsibility is stronger than that of most people, and you firmly believe you can do anything as long as you try hard enough. Adding to that, being trusted by others often brings you great joy and gets you motivated. Since you also have determination, you’re good at putting together a team and acting as its leader. While you are thoughtful and considerate, you’re also the type to not directly show your emotions and affection to others. You might want to try expressing your honest feelings to another person some time. ” ― Kirby Personality Quiz when King Dedede is the result (translated by kaialone) • Kirby Portal"

This leads to Kirby Super Star Ultra 's Revenge of the King, the first time in a long while where Dedede actually chooses to fight Kirby again out of his own free will, but this time, it isn't a case of "hero versus villain." This isn't any sort of misunderstanding, this isn't him regressing back to stealing food, this isn't even about glory: the arena where it all began is now an electric cage, the only viewer being Bandana Waddle Dee, who Dedede spared from fighting Kirby, but still did so anyway out of sheer loyalty, making this match more personal. Here, Dedede challenges Kirby to a rematch, respecting him as an equal, even giving him a hammer of his own so they can settle things fair and square. The Great King said it himself: "Our grudge will be settled at last." And when the battle is over and a winner is decided, Dedede doesn't throw a tantrum or demand another rematch, but instead humbly accepts his defeat, as he shamefully walks towards the setting sun, with his retinue of Waddle Dees in tow, choosing to stay by his side despite his losses, showing that they follow him not because of his self-imposed title, but because they genuinely respect and admire him as a person. This brings us to Kirby's Return to Dream Land, where, for the first time, Dedede is member of the playable cast, being a hero alongside Kirby and friends willingly and happily from the very start of the game, and he has stayed as one of Kirby's closest friends since. The plot of Kirby: Triple Deluxe even entirely revolves around Kirby going out of his way to rescue the King after he was kidnapped by Taranza, with Dedede returning the favor by saving Kirby from the clutches of Queen Sectonia in the final act, being the only reason Kirby was able to succeed (when the scene is replayed in slow-motion during the ending, Dedede can be seen shaking his hammer before hitting Kirby, showing that he's hesitating a bit because he doesn't want to hurt him, and after, he immediately makes sure if he's okay and smiles when he's revived by the Miracle Fruit). In Kirby and the Forgotten Land, he even selflessly sacrifices himself for a single normal Waddle Dee after you snap him out of being mind-controlled again, which is a stark contrast to his self-serving behavior of the first game. He has gone from self ish to self less. He has gone from a "Self-Proclaimed" King, to a Self-Made one. He's not a villain, or a frenemy, or an anti-hero, but a blatant unambiguous hero who has grown into his role as the rightful ruler of Dream Land, and until the rest of the world is able to recognize that, he's going to keep on hammering it home. " “ Once a Great King becomes a great person, he’s gotta commit to the act and stay with it ‘till the very end! ” ― King Dedede • King Dedede’s Great Escape Strategy (translated by deafeninggardenerpanda)"

Macho of Dedede
" “ The king of Dream Land! This big dude is one tough cookie. With his trusty hammer, it’s aim once, WHAM once! ” ― King Dedede 's pause description • Kirby's Return to Dream Land" According to the boss description of Dedede Clone in Kirby: Planet Robobot, King Dedede is considered to be one of the strongest beings on Planet Popstar, which is very credible considering the fact that pause screen descriptions in Kirby series are usually sources of important lore. In the Super Smash Bros. series' codec call easter eggs, Otacon from the Metal Gear series comments that with a single swing of his hammer, Dedede could potentially level an entire building. As his rival, Dedede should be comparable to Kirby, who can crack Planet Popstar in two in Kirby Super Star 's Megaton Punch, send a meteor 9999 light years away with a swing of a baseball bat in Kirby Star Allies ' Star Slam Heroes, and has been stated to wield infinite power in his pause description in Kirby: Planet Robobot. It should be addressed that an interview establishes that while non-canonical, extra content are there to show what Kirby characters are truly capable of outside the main story. With that in mind, in sub-games like The True Arena, Dededetour!, Guest Star ???? Star Allies Go! and The Ultimate Choice, Dedede is shown to be just as capable as Kirby when it comes to defeating powerful foes like Galacta Knight, Magolor Soul, Dark Meta Knight, Morpho Knight, and Void, all of which could threaten planets, stars, galaxies, and maybe even entire dimensions. Perhaps the reason Dedede gets possessed so often is because the villains of the series fear and desire his power.

Also, much like Kirby, Dedede has many strange abilities and powers. He can hover by inflating himself just like a balloon, a technique he copied from Kirby, and according to his trophy in Super Smash Bros. Melee, he had train extensively to do so. Another ability Dedede shares with his rival is the ability to inhale, but strangely enough, Dedede already had this move since the very first game despite having never met Kirby up to that point. Notably, ever since Kirby: Triple Deluxe, Dedede's inhale has gotten a significant upgrade and has been officially renamed to the ビッグバンすいこみ (Big Bang Inhale, Big Bang being the Japanese name of Hypernova) in the Japanese version. If taken literally, this means that Dedede could potentially inhale the same things Hypernova Kirby can without a Miracle Fruit. Among his other abilities, he can ignite his hammer for moves like the decisive Dedede Hammer Flip, or the Hammer Twirl in Dededetour!. In Kirby and the Forgotten Land, he can cause icy spikes to erupt from the ground by hitting it hard enough (using a large pillar that he's strong enough to swing around). In Kirby's Pinball Land, Dedede can shoot lightning out of his hands. None of these elemental abilities are explained.

Outside of his abilities, Dedede's masked alter ego, Masked Dedede, has been implied by Shinya Kumazaki to have connections to the final boss of Kirby & The Amazing Mirror, Dark Mind. It would explain why Taranza (who also has connections to the Dimension Mirror) was able to give it to Dedede in Kirby: Triple Deluxe, but it only makes the question of how Dedede got his hands on that power-amplifying mask in the first place even more of a mystery, and it wouldn't be the last, as Dedede would go on to have more masked battles as Waning Crescent Masked Dedede (with Waxing Crescent Masked Meta Knight) in Kirby Fighters 2, and Forgo Dedede in Kirby and the Forgotten Land, with the last-mentioned actually made to brainwash Dedede even further, as he was already seen to be brainwashed earlier in his first encounter with Kirby in that game. However, the fact that the Beast Pack felt the need to further cloud his mind, implies that Dedede was beginning to fight off being controlled. He can even be seen trying to take off the mask right before the battle with Forgo Dedede, meaning that Dedede's will is growing strong enough to start resisting being controlled, even if it's by a little bit.

Reception
King Dedede is a pretty popular character for those who love video games, and is generally loved, albeit more commonly purely for his memetic appearance in the anime series, Kirby: Right Back at Ya!, where he was portrayed drastically different than he is in canon. As a result, this spawned various misconceptions concerning his morality, many of which the points on this page try to clarify. Outside of that, his silly expressions has also spawned many memes of their own, like his shocked faces in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards and Kirby's Return to Dream Land, or his laugh in the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate reveal trailer for King K. Rool (The Rivals). Dedede's themes have also become massively popular, such as "Roar of Dedede" from Kirby and the Forgotten Land, and "Masked Dedede's Theme" from Kirby Super Star Ultra. In fact, the latter has gained over 5 million views on a single video alone on YouTube (specifically the version from Kirby: Triple Deluxe, officially titled "Dedede's Royal Payback").

He was popular enough to participate in both the SiIvaGunner: King for a Day Tournament and the SiIvaGunner: King for Another Day Tournament, placing 4th and 17th in both tournaments respectively. He was also featured as a combatant in the popular, yet controversial, web-series, Death Battle, where he faced off against Wario from the Mario series. Although he won, the episode's rundown of him painted him as a goofy anti-hero who occasionally does good things sometimes rather than being a full-fledged hero who's really a big softie deep down and has overtime grown more comfortable with showing it.

Overall, while Dedede's character is generally liked, and he does have many fans who love him for his heroism and character development (the video essays featured in the Videos section would not exist otherwise), those aspects of his character are sadly rarely fully acknowledged and appreciated, and instead, Dedede is mostly remembered as "the big bad of the Kirby series" or an anti-hero if lucky. But this may soon change, because with Kirby and the Forgotten Land becoming the highest-selling game in the series and even winning the award for "best family" game of the year at The Game Awards 2022, followed by Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe, both games showcasing Dedede's growth, hopefully more will come to see Dedede as the Self-Made King he's become rather than the "Self-Proclaimed" King that he was.

Videos
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