King Dedede
| King Dedede | |
|---|---|
| 'Kirby series character | |
| File:Dededesqsq.png King Dedede, as he appears in Kirby: Squeak Squad | |
| First game | Kirby's Dream Land (1992) |
| Created by | Masahiro Sakurai |
King Dedede (デデデ大王, Dedede Daiō lit. Great King Dedede), also spelled "King DeDeDe", and "King De De De" is the first antagonist to Kirby in Nintendo and HAL Labs' long-running Kirby video game series, appearing in every game except Kirby and the Amazing Mirror. Although not necessarily evil, he does seem to have some level of malice, though most of his actions in the series have him causing easily correctable problems for the inhabitants of Dream Land, such as stealing their food or building a castle on top of the Fountain Of Dreams. His more heinous actions are more often due to possession by more sinister entity of Dark Matter, along with the rest of the usual franchise enemies. Despite this, he and Kirby have teamed up on occasions with the purpose of taking down a greater common foe.
Due to an ambiguous description of the geography of Pop Star, it is never made entirely clear how much of the planet Dedede assumes rulership of, though he seems to have castles and fortresses all across the planet. Even so, he seems to perform no administrative functions, and for the most part the planet seems to ignore any edicts that are issued by him. Some of his absurd behavior seems to be caused by an undescribed complex where he has a hatred for stars, which is inconvenient, considering the entire planet is shaped like a star, and a recurring motif of the many worlds in the series is a star.
King Dedede resembles a large birdlike creature, based either on a penguin or a duck, dressed in red royal finery, with his personal emblem embossed on the back of his robe. He also wears yellow gloves, and wields a large hammer as an offensive weapon. He is able to suck in objects and shoot them out in a manner similar to Kirby, and following Kirby's Dream Land, he apparently underwent a series of rigorous training to be able to use inhaled air to fly, in the same manner as his rival.
Video Games
Dedede first appeared in Kirby's Dream Land, where he and several thieves acting on his part stole the majority of Dream Land's food, and in either an attempt to crush morale, or simply to cause needless mischief, he stole the inhabitant's treasured Sparkling Stars. Appearing as the final boss of the game, his actions are reversed by Kirby upon his defeat, with a finishing blow sending him flying through the ceiling of his castle.
In Kirby's Adventure, he has broken up the fabled Star Rod from the Fountain of Dreams, causing the people of Dreamland to be unable to sleep, and Kirby is dispatched with the task of recovering all the pieces. In a key plot revelation, defeating Dedede makes it apparent that he was actually trying to protect Dream Land from the sinister Cloaked Nightmare who had taken residence in the fountain, and even goes so far as to spit out Kirby into outer space so Kirby can defeat Nightmare, one of the few instances where he is seen as helping Kirby as opposed to hindering him. Nonetheless, this started a popular trend in the main plot of the series where Dedede would serve as the apparent final boss, but collecting all the pieces of some key item would reveal the true instigator of Dream Land's problems, usually Dark Matter. In what is seen as one of the darker points of the series, a possessed Dedede fights Kirby in Kirby's Dream Land 3, his stomach tearing open and revealing a set of teeth with which he attempts to devour Kirby. Defeating Dedede once all 30 Heart Stars have been found reveals Dark Matter as the true final boss of the game, and the source of Dedede's surreal abilities.
Though he has been relegated to a position of relative inferiority in the main series, Dedede often is the main instigator and final boss in the side series of puzzle and handheld arcade games, such as Kirby's Dream Course, where he operates a giant robot made in his own likeness at the end of the series, or Kirby's Block Ball, where he has built a castle atop the Fountain of Dreams, essentially defacing a symbol of pride for the people of Dream Land. These actions often appear as more harmless as an inconvenience for Kirby and the other Dreamlanders, often fueled by a rivalry for Kirby or his hatred of stars, but it demonstrates a capability to cause chaos outside of the influence of Dark Matter.
In Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, Dedede is fought very early on in the game, and is possessed by Dark Matter once again. His attacks are similar to the ones from previous games; using his hammer and spitting out Dark Matter. After the Dark Matter is driven out, he allies with Kirby, allowing him to ride on his back in some areas. Interestingly enough, Dedede is also fought very early in Kirby: Squeak Squad, as he is actually the very first major boss in that game, making this the first Kirby platformer to place him in such a capacity. After his defeat, the Squeaks attack and take his treasure chest thinking it contains an ultimate power and begin to run off with it, but the furious King Dedede grabs and throws Kirby at them, knocking all of them in a rather large pit (which seemingly appears from nowhere).
King Dedede is widely recognized for the theme song that often plays during battles against him. The song was used for the Dedede battle in Kirby's Dream Land 1, 2, and 3, Kirby Super Star, and Kirby: Squeak Squad. Although it was not in the original NES version of Kirby's Adventure, it was added in the GBA remake, Nightmare in Dream Land, for the Boss Tower stage. A remixed version of the song was also used during the races against the Dedede Painting in Kirby: Canvas Curse. The version of the song from Kirby Super Star also appears in Kirby Air Ride, as an unlockable song for the FIRE track. Another theme associated with King Dedede is the theme from the Gourmet Race mini-game in Kirby Super Star. An orchestral version of this theme is employed during battle against him in Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land, as well as the Fountain of Dreams stage of Super Smash Bros. Melee.
Playable Appearances
Though the villain of the series, Dedede has had a handful of playable appearances in some of the more recent games.
- In Kirby no Kirakira Kizzu, King Dedede is playable in the VS mode of the game. Both Player 1 and Player 2 can select him at the character select screen.
- In Kirby 64, in addition to being a playable ally in some levels of game, King Dedede is a playable character in the minigames.
- In Kirby Air Ride, King Dedede is an unlockable character, obtained after defeating 1000 or more enemies scattered across the game's racetracks.
- In Kirby Super Star Dedede is playable in the two player version of quick draw, only Player 2 can play as him. As Player 2, you may need to start the game many times to play as Dedede, since everytime you play a match, Player 2's character is chosen at random while Player 1 is always Kirby.
- In Kirby: Canvas Curse, he is a Medal Swap unlockable after obtaining Waddle Dee, and for a third time allies himself with Kirby in an endeavour to take down a common enemy. However, he also appears in that game as an enemy in the Truck Chase minigame.
Dedede in the anime
In the anime series Kirby: Right Back at Ya!, King Dedede is presented as the illegitimate and incompetent ruler of Dream Land, with a castle atop a hill overlooking Cappy Town. He is accompanied by his equally bumbling lackey, Escargoon (Escargon in the original version; voiced by Ted Lewis), an intellectual snail who seems to have an affection (possibly romantic) for Dedede (some of this is removed in the North American dub by 4Kids Entertainment). Dedede's main cause of inconvenience for the citizens of Dreamland is his constant purchasing of monsters from Nightmare Enterprises (Holy Nightmare in the original version), which often leads to needless chaos for the people of Dreamland. Though Dedede initially purchased these monsters as way to enforce his absurd laws or for his own amusement, he begins to purchase them with the intent of depopularizing and/or destroying Kirby, whom he feels is a threat not only to his self-imagined popularity, but also his authority.
Most of Dedede's exploits involve a grandiose but underthought scheme to fool the citizens to work in his favor to help eliminate Kirby or provide him an extra flow of income, but either via the insight of Tiff ("Fumu" in the original), Kirby, or his own bumbling incompetence, they are easily foiled, and he and Escargoon are sent back to their castle, often in a slapstick manner. Some fans contend that the dub seems to make it like Dedede wants to kill Kirby, and have even edited some of the original plot of some episodes to make this seem true. The explanation provided is that Dedede initially does wish to do away Kirby, but later grows to respect Kirby, and any later conflict is due to a passive rivalry or his own general childish behavior.
Despite his age and the fact that he has ruled Dream Land for 300 years (or so he says), Dedede is like Doctor Eggman from the Sonic the Hedgehog series as well as Doctor Neo Cortex from the Crash Bandicoot series; exceedingly immature, and will often throw temper tantrums when his plans foiled. In the Japanese version, he often adds -zoi at the end of his sentences, while the English dub portrays him using a constant misuse of words, with a few timely allusions to Bushisms.
Early on in the series, Dedede cavorts around in a tank driven by Escargoon (which was changed to an orange color from the original tan and green camouflage appearance in the original). However, in the show's first two-part episode, "The Kirby Derby", Dedede downloads a limousine from Nightmare Enterprises in order to win a car race. Since then, the limo became his primary method of transportation, and whatever happened to the tank is never explained (even in the Japanese version).
King Dedede is voiced by Kenichi Ogata in the original Japanese version and by Ed Paul in the English dub. His English dub voice shows him talking with a Southern accent, like that of Colonel Sanders.
Name Confusion
Due to some inconsistency on Nintendo's part, there is some argument between the spelling and pronunciation of King Dedede's English name. Several games swap between King Dedede and King DeDeDe (in Kirby Super Star his name is spelled "King De De De"), and various media had the pronunciation either as /diːdiːdiː/, or /dɛdɛdɛ/. The English version of the anime favors /diːdiːdiː/. His Japanese name's spelling (デデデ), however, is pronounced /dehdehdeh/.
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