Super Smash Bros. Fighters - Kirby series - 02 Meta Knight

Debut
In the Kirby series: Kirby’s Adventure (1993)
In the Super Smash Bros. series: Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2008)

Boxing Ring Title: The Masked Swordsman

Theme Song: Meta Knight’s Revenge

Meta Knight is a mysterious character in the Kirby series. He and his loyal members called the "Meta-Knights" serve underneath King Dedede. He is the wielder of the blade, Galaxia, and his cape can transform into bat-like wings.

Meta Knight makes his debut in the game "Kirby's Adventure." In that game, King Dedede used the Star Rod to seal away the evil wizard named Nightmare, and then broke the Star Rod into seven pieces. He then gave Meta Knight one of the pieces to guard. Throughout the adventure, Meta Knight occasionally helps Kirby out on his adventure to reclaim the Star Rod pieces, though he also sics his Meta-Knights on him as well. At Orange Ocean, Meta Knight decides to confront Kirby himself. Giving Kirby a sword to use, the two do battle against one another. Kirby manages to defeat Meta Knight, even slicing off his mask! With his defeat, Meta Knight quickly teleports away, though he does leave his piece of the Star Rod for Kirby to collect.

Meta Knight would then appear in "Kirby Super Star." More specifically, he appears in the game mode Revenge of Meta Knight. Meta Knight has grown tired of Dream Land's lazy ways, and decides to forcefully take over Dream Land through the use of his airship, the Halberd. Kirby catches wind of this and uses his Warp Star to land on the ship to take it down. Throughout the game mode, Meta Knight and his army try to slow Kirby's progress down and fling him off of their ship. While they succeed in doing so twice, they are unable to fling him off a third time. They keep sending their goons after him, but Kirby manages to fend them off and cause heavy damage to the Halberd. As Meta Knight's army abandons ship, Meta Knight decides to stay to confront Kirby himself. Following their duel, Meta Knight ends up getting overpowered and loses his mask, forcing him to once again retreat. However, he quickly gets a new mask and chases Kirby down as the little pink spud tries to escape off of the sinking Halberd. Ultimately, Kirby gets away, and Meta Knight's plans are foiled.

Meta Knight's appearance in "Kirby and the Amazing Mirror" sees him heading to the Mirror World when he senses danger there. Upon arriving, his Mirror World counterpart, Dark Meta Knight, approaches him. The two duel, with Dark Meta Knight besting him and sealing Meta Knight away in the Dimension Mirror. Dark Meta Knight then shatters said mirror into nine pieces and scatters them throughout Mirror World. He then decides to take on the identity of his good counterpart. Once Kirby and his three clones manage to restore the Dimension Mirror, they jump inside and are "greeted" by the disguised Dark Meta Knight, only for the real Meta Knight to arrive. Dark Meta Knight then removes his disguise and battles the four Kirbys. Once Kirby and his three clones succeed, a portal to the evil mastermind behind things, Dark Mind, opens up and sucks the four in, though Meta Knight manages to throw his sword into the portal so Kirby can use it to defeat the villain. Once Dark Mind is defeated, Meta Knight heads home with the Kirbys, but not before leaving a copy of his sword for the citizens of the Mirror World to use in times of need.

Meta Knight would make his first playable appearance in "Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland", a remake of Kirby's Adventure. Specifically, he would be playable in the game's unlockable "Meta Knightmare" mode, which sees Meta Knight deciding to do some sword training. This game mode would be followed up on in "Kirby Super Star Ultra," a remake of Kirby Super Star, which included the game mode called Meta Knightmare Ultra. In this game's story, Meta Knight wants to get stronger, and thus travels through various locations in Dream Land, before taking off to explore the various planets nearby. Near the end of his journey, Meta Knight summons Galactic Nova ands makes a wish to fight "the greatest warrior in the galaxy." Galactic Nova then summons Galacta Knight, an ancient warrior who was sealed away because people feared his powers. Meta Knight would manage to defeat Galacta Knight, after which he would fly back home.

Personality-wise, Meta Knight is portrayed as a stoic and serious character. He is quite passionate about his swordsman skills, and constantly seeks out means to make himself stronger. He also tends to follow a code of honor: whenever he decides to battle Kirby, he always hands Kirby a sword so that they can fight on equal terms. While he tends to mean well, he can sometimes fall into the extremist side, as shown in Revenge of Meta Knight where he decided to forcefully take over Dream Land to end the citizen's laziness. Meta Knight also has a fondness for sweet food; he secretly enjoys parfait on late nights, and especially likes afogatto, coffee, and chocolate.

Meta Knight also shows up in the animated adaption "Kirby: Right Back At Ya'." Just like in the games, Meta Knight serves under King Dedede, though not out of loyalty, as he doesn't have much respect for the king. He does it to protect the citizens of Dream Land from the monsters King Dedede purchases from Nightmare Enterprises, as well as hoping that a new Star Warrior will arrive due to said monsters. Additionally, his "Meta-Knights" have been reduced to just Sword Knight and Blade Knight. Once Kirby, a really young Star Warrior, arrives in Dream Land and decides to live near Cappy Town, Meta Knight begins to act as his mentor, training him in the ways of being a Star Warrior. Beyond that, he rarely gets involved in Kirby's life.

The anime also looks into Meta Knight's backstory now and then. He used to be part of the Star Warriors, fighting against Nightmare's tyranny. His closest friends in the Star Warriors army was Garlude and Knuckle Joe's Father. As the years have gone by, the Star Warriors numbers would slowly deplete, and Meta Knight would lose his two close friends due to different circumstances. He would then travel the stars hoping to find more Star Warriors, which lead him into finding and recruiting Sword Knight and Blade Knight. Eventually, Meta Knight would stop at Dream Land to wait for the arrival of a new Star Warrior.

Notably, Meta Knight's eyes would sometimes change color, which usually reflected what emotion he was currently feeling. If he's happy or calm, they're blue. If he's thoughtful, they're green. If he's angry, they're red. And if he's amused, they're pink. The show also gave him a Spanish accent.

In Super Smash Bros., Meta Knight can jump five additional times in the air like Kirby, and his mastery of the sword and other tricks ensures his opponents will never know what hit them!

Special Moves 

Neutral Special: Mach Tornado

Meta Knight twirls around at super speeds, engulfing himself in a golden tornado of sorts. Meta Knight can move left or right at incredible speeds, and rapidly tapping the Special Button will make Meta Knight rise, as well as extend the duration of the move. Anyone he bumps into will get sent flying upward, but they can only get it by it once per-use, it’s best to try and get away after hitting them.

Inspired by Kirby’s Tornado ability that debuted in “Kirby's Adventure.” The Tornado ability allows Kirby to encase himself in a tornado to attack, and he can freely move around as he uses it.

Meta Knight would be seen utilizing it in his Boss Fight in “Kirby Super Star.” In future games, the name of the move refers to a different attack: a move Meta Knight uses by charging up his sword and stabbing the ground, which sends out a massive tornado. 

Side Special: Drill Rush

Meta Knight, with his sword extended, charges forward in a spiral. He can also head upwards and downwards as he travels. Anyone he hits gets dragged with him.

If Meta Knight manages to land the final hit of the move on the opponent, he’ll do a small recoil jump. Otherwise, he’ll immediately start to fall.

Inspired by Kirby's Master ability from "Kirby and the Amazing Mirror." By performing a dash attack, Kirby would perform a similar-looking move while wielding Meta Knight's sword.

Meta Knight would be seen performing something similar in “Kirby Air Ride” as his Quick Spin Attack. 

Up Special: Shuttle Loop

Meta Knight does an uppercut slash with his sword, goes into a loop, and the slashes again while rising higher!

Inspired by Kirby's Wing ability that debuted in "Kirby Super Star," where one of his attacks is performing a Shuttle Loop. However, Kirby did not wield a sword, and also needed to pick up an enemy and toss them to perform it.

 Meta Knight would first be seen using the move in "Kirby's Return to Dream Land." 

Down Special: Dimensional Cape

Meta Knight swings his cape over himself and disappears.

If you're holding the Special button, Meta Knight will reappear and perform a powerful slash! Otherwise Meta Knight just reappears without attacking.

If you’re holding the control stick in any direction, Meta Knight will teleport in that direction, which can be used as either an approach or as a “get away” move.

Inspired by how Meta Knight tends to wrap himself up in his cape and jump away after being defeated in battle, which was first seen in “Kirby’s Adventure.” Meta Knight has never been shown using it to attack, though. 

Final Smash: Darkness Illusion

Meta Knight transforms his cape into its batwing form, and shouts either “Know my power!” or “Behold…!” as he raises his sword high. Lightning bolts begin to shoot out around Meta Knight in a cross-like pattern, and anyone hit by them gets sent to the top-center of the battlefield.

Meta Knight then begins barraging anyone caught with a bunch of slashes from his sword, Galaxia, before finishing up with a final slash that sends opponents away from him.

Inspired by Meta Knight’s move, Upper Caliber, in “Kirby Star Allies.” In that game though, all he had to do to perform it was to land a charged uppercut rather then shoot out lightning and then follow up with it if the lightning hit.

The lightning aspect seems to be taken from Meta Knight being infused with the Zap ability in "Kirby Star Allies," as well as when he’s performing the Mach Tornado in “Kirby Super Star.”

Additional Notes 

Meta Knight has an alternate costume inspired by Galacta Knight. Galacta Knight made his debut in “Kirby Super Star Ultra,” and is the final boss of the Meta Knightmare Ultra mode. Not much is known about Galacta Knight, other then that long ago in the ancient past,  he used to be a renown hero who was known through his title “The Strongest Warrior in the Galaxy”. He also has incredible strength, and is stated to be capable of destroying “a nearby planet or two”. He was sealed away long ago by an unknown force who feared his power, but Meta Knight decides to free him to prove that HE’S the strongest. After that, Galacta Knight tends to show up in later games as a powerful – but optional – boss fight.

Meta Knight also has an alternate costume based on Dark Meta Knight. Dark Meta Knight debuted in “Kirby and the Amazing Mirror” and is the primary antagonist. Hailing from the Mirror Dimension, Dark Meta Knight was created to help in the conquest of both the Mirror Dimension and Dream Land. Dark Meta Knight even tries to pass himself off as his good counterpart, though his disguise was quite easy to see through since he doesn’t bother to fight Kirby evenly by giving him a sword to wield against him. Despite supposedly getting shattered at the end of the adventure, future games would show Dark Meta Knight somehow survived, and is plotting revenge…

Meta Knight’s sword, Galaxia, was first named in “Super Smash Bros. Brawl.” Before that, his sword didn’t have a name, the closest it had was being called “Master” in “Kirby and the Amazing Mirror.” The design of the sword was also in flux until “Super Smash Bros. Brawl” finalized it. So for fifteen years, Galaxia’s design was inconsistent and it had no name.

Underneath that mask of his, Meta Knight is essentially a Dark-Blue Kirby. Could he be related to Kirby?