History VideoGame / KirbyAndTheForgottenLand

* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:To stop Fecto Elfilis from colliding Planet Popstar with the new world, Elfilin uses all of his power to close the dimensional portal between the two. It's almost immediately subverted when it's revealed that Elfilin survived thanks to Clawroline and opened a stable portal connecting Popstar to the new world.]]

* SelfPlagiarism: An interesting case; King Dedede's design in this game looks very similar to his appearance in ''VideoGame/Kirby64TheCrystalShards''. According to [[https://gigi9714.wordpress.com/2022/07/31/translation-of-the-kirby-and-the-forgotten-land-interview-from-the-june-2022-edition-of-nintendo-dream/ an interview with the developers]], this was completely unintentional, but the designer who worked on Dedede ''also'' worked on ''Kirby 64'', so the director speculates that he subconsciously channeled it into the new design.

* StoppedClock: All of the clocks throughout the Forgotten Land have stopped at 4:27. This (along with the hidden 92 Star Coins you can collect at the clocktower in Northeast Frost Street) make a reference to the debut of ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand'': April 27th, 1992.

* AllTheWorldsAreAStage: [[spoiler:[[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon The final level]] from the post-game campaign — "[[EldritchLocation the Isolated Isles of Forgo Dreams]]" — is a mashup of the previous levels [[RemixedLevel with each individual stage representing one of the previous levels]], and within each individual stage itself are six segments; the first five segments of Forgo Dreams' first six stages are either taken from the one portion of each of that original level's four stages with a unique segment not found in the original levels added in as the fifth segment ([[GreenHillZone Natural Plains]], [[PalmtreePanic Everbay Coast]], [[AmusementParkOfDoom Wondaria Remains]], [[SlippySlideyIceWorld Winter Horns]], and [[ShiftingSandLand Originull Wasteland]]) or taken from one portion of each of the original level's five stages ([[LethalLavaLand Redgar Forbidden Lands]]), and the sixth segment itself in these stages is the original level's boss fight stage — the sole exception is the last stage (based on [[BossOnlyLevel Lab Discovera]]).]]

** Since the Bling Blipper's fishing animation involves Elfilin helping you pull it up, [[spoiler: you cannot encounter it while Elfilin is captured.]]

** Clawroline evokes this with her [[TertiarySexualCharacteristics long eyelashes, purple eyeshadow]], [[HartmanHips highly exaggerated]] and stylized [[ImpossibleHourglassFigure hourglass figure]], thick thighs, and even chest fluff in a heart shape seemingly [[BuxomBeautyStandard designed to resemble a large bust]].

** Clawroline evokes this with her [[TertiarySexualCharacteristics long eyelashes, purple eyeshadow]], [[HartmanHips highly exaggerated]] and stylized [[ImpossibleHourglassFigure hourglass figure]], thick thighs, and even chest fluff in a heart shape seemingly designed to resemble [[BuxomIsBetter a large bust]].

* ComsicDeadline: Played to an extreme, for a good part of the game, Kirby is simply lost in an abondonned land, where he meets Elfilin and fights the Beast Pack to deliver the Waddle Dees, all without much [[{{Foreshadowing foreshadowing]] of a bigger plot. Until the ''very last level'' where you learn that [[spoiler:Elfilin is actually the missing part of Fecto Forgo, a life form kept in Lab Discovera that King Leogar is trying to recreate and take control over, later followed by the revelation that he was merely tricked by Forgo into giving him his power back and instantly absorbs him along with the rest of the Beast Pack as it breaks free]].

* BalanceBuff: To counterbalance the new Evolved Copy Abilities mechanic, Kirby's default [[SuperSpit Star Bullet]] attack was buffed considerably from previous installments, in order to make it consistently useful throughout the game. In addition to having more base damage, the Blaster Bullets spawned by inhaling multiple objects now reach their full power much more quickly (capping at four inhaled objects, whereas older games capped at 12). This makes copyless Kirby ''very'' powerful, and in some cases even better than using Copy Abilities!

* BalanceBuff: Star Bullets were buffed considerably from previous installments to counterbalance the new Evolved Copy Abilities mechanic in order to make them consistently useful throughout the game. This makes copyless Kirby ''very'' powerful, and in some cases even better than using Copy Abilities!

* SenselessSacrifice: Though not the intended reaction, and in fact it probably saved his life, [[spoiler: King Dedede staying behind to fight the beast pack so the Waddle Dee can escape is presented as a HeroicSacrifice, despite the fact that the approaching “army” consists of only a handful of troops and Kirby probably could have taken all of them out easily. He also probably had time to make it back to the elevator rather than just throwing the Waddle Dee back.]]

* MercyMode: Should you fall too often in a short space of time and you're in ''Wild Mode'', the game will ask if you wish to switch to ''Spring Breeze Mode.''
** Also inverted. If you do well in Spring Breeze Mode, the game will ask if you want to switch to ''Wild Mode''.

* {{Nerf}}: Similar to ''VideoGame/Kirby64TheCrystalShards'' and ''VideoGame/KirbysBlowoutBlast'', Kirby's flying abilities have been restricted. He can no longer fly indefinitely nor rise higher than a set distance from the ground he started from, he'll eventually strain and begin to float downwards. This results in gameplay that forces Kirby to find other means to reach higher locations.

* NonLethalBottomlessPits: Unlike previous mainline games in the series, but carrying over from ''VideoGame/KirbysBlowoutBlast'', falling into a BottomlessPit doesn't instantly kill Kirby. Instead, he loses a fraction of health and respawns on a nearby platform.

* NoOSHACompliance: The first Alivel Mall has package conveyor belts that lead off high-rise edges, and a ''spike pit'' in the middle of a looping conveyor belt section. One can only imagine why it was designed like this even before it got abandoned.

* RemixedLevel: In the postgame, [[spoiler:there's the Isolated Isles of Forgo Dreams, a world inside Fecto Forgo's dreams that contains recreations of areas from the rest of the game. Each level's stage is based on one of the main level of the game, comprised of multiple areas taken from the respective level's stages alongside a new area that shares the same theming—the exceptions being Forgo Plains, which excludes Downtown Grassland in favor of having Point of Arrival for one of its areas, Forgo Zone, which doesn't have a new area, and Forgo Land, which remains a BossOnlyLevel. Unlike the base stages, you're collecting the much more plentiful pieces of Leon's soul instead of rescuing Waddle Dees, and the hazards and enemies of the stages are ramped up significantly. These are also where the Phantom bosses, this game's equivalent to the EX, 2.0 or Parallel bosses, are first encountered]].

* RoarBeforeBeating: The minibosses all do an angry roar before the fight starts, which has been a staple since ''VideoGame/KirbyTripleDeluxe''. They'll do another one when they [[TurnsRed Turn Red]].

** Hitting a foe dead-on with the Hammer ability will squash them into the ground before they disappear. Kirby can also crush enemies with the Stair Mouth for the same effect.

*** Lightbulb Mouth recalls several abilities that light up [[BlackoutBasement dark areas]], such as the Light ability exclusive to ''Adventure''[=/=]''Nightmare in Dream Land'', Kine's Spark attack in ''Dream Land 2'' and ''3'', and the Bomb+Spark combo from ''Kirby 64''.
*** Water Balloon Mouth stands in for Water, allowing Kirby to spray water at enemies.

* TrueFinalBoss: The last opponent of Ultimate Cup Z is [[spoiler:Chaos Elfilis, whose first form is a powered up version of Fecto Elfilis with new attacks and its second form which is a red orb that uses the attacks of previous Soul bosses with its own twists.]]

** Tropic Woods, the boss of the second level (Everbay Coast), isn't too tough, but it takes a significantly greater amount of strategy to beat compared to Gorimondo. Whereas you can wail on Gorimondo with little thought, Tropic Woods requires you to think carefully about your positioning, since it actively aims at you and defends itself with chain-link fences.

* WilyWalrus: A more feral-looking version of Mr. Frosty known as [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Wild Frosty]] appears.

** The Clutter Needle and Volcano Fire ability upgrades reference ability combinations from [[VideoGame/Kirby64TheCrystalShards Kirby 64]], those being the Needle + Needle and Burning + Stone abilities respectively (though with the latter, Kirby spits out the lava instead of shooting it from his head) Dragon Fire’s fireball dash also references the Burning + Burning combination. The new Drill ability as a whole may be a reference to Needle + Stone, which gave Kirby a drill on his hand.

** If Kirby successfully counters Meta Knight's BladeLock and steals his sword, Meta Knight will fly back in using his old sword from ''VideoGame/KirbysAdventure''.
** [[spoiler:The design for the Morpho Knight Sword is recycled wholesale from the Morpho Gear in ''VideoGame/SuperKirbyClash'' minus the shoulder pauldrons.]]

** The Tilt-and-Roll minigame is one to ''VideoGame/KirbyTiltNTumble'', being a game where motion controls are used to roll a Kirby ball through various obstacles.

* BossRemix: The battle against [[spoiler:Morpho Knight]], while incorporating the boss's original theme, is also a remix of "Welcome to the New World!".

* MarketBasedTitle: From ''Hoshi no Kirby[[note]]"Kirby of the Stars", the JP franchise name[[/note]]: Discovery'' in Japanese to ''Kirby and the Forgotten Land'' in English.

** Treasure Road areas have a restart function in the pause menu if you're dissatisfied with your current time through the stage, meaning you don't need to return to the world map to retry a Treasure Road (unfortunately, the main stages and especially the bosses do not have this function).

** If you run out of cans in Vending Mouth mode, spitting out the vending machine will cause another to respawn in its starting location with full ammo, in case you need them for a puzzle.
** The Gotcha machines are heavily biased in favor of giving a figure Kirby does not already have, meaning players won't need dozens of tries just to get the one last figure they need. In addition, after beating the game, a Waddle Dee will guarantee a figure Kirby does not already have in exchange for a rare stone.

* BaitAndSwitchBoss: The boss of [[spoiler:the Isolated Isles of Forgo Dreams]] gets its own BossSubtitles under the name [[spoiler:Soul Forgo]], implying a full boss fight; however, the same trick from ''VideoGame/KirbyStarAllies'' is then pulled, where [[spoiler:an innocuous butterfly floats by and absorbs Soul Forgo's power, revealing itself to be Morpho Knight]].

* BigBadassRig: [[spoiler:The game's final Mouthful Mode is the Big-Rig Mouth that Kirby needs to use to chase down Fecto Elfilis before they crash Planet Popstar down onto the new world.]]

* BlackoutBasement: The Invasion at the House of Horrors, Moonlight Canyon, [[spoiler:Forgo Park]] and [[spoiler:Forgo Wasteland]] stages feature sections with pitch-black paths (aside from a small portion lit around Kirby) that Kirby needs to illuminate with his new Light-Bulb Mouth.

* BossArenaIdiocy: Though not a boss per se, the Tortuilding in the Downtown Grassland stage wouldn't be so easily defeated if he didn't take up residence just below a platform Cone Mouth Kirby could attack from, and Kirby wouldn't even be able to reach it if there wasn't a water pipe that can be broken to push him up to the higher ledge.

* BossCorridor: [[spoiler:King Dedede in his second fight]] and the final boss have a long, empty corridor leading towards them. All the other bosses have similar paths leading to them, though not nearly as long.

* FourLegsGoodTwoLegsBetter: Awoofies, the tiny foxes that're members of the Beast Pack, are seen typically sprinting on all fours with their stubby little feet, but they are also capable of running with a bipedal, humanlike stance without issue.

* BackgroundMusicOverride: The Battle of Blizzard Bridge and [[spoiler:Gathering of the Beast Council]] override the typical boss themes with their own stage themes.

* BaitAndSwitchBoss: The boss of [[spoiler:the Isolated Isles of Forgo Dreams]] gets its own BossSubtitles under the name [[spoiler:Soul Forgo]], implying a full boss fight; however, the same trick from ''VideoGame/KirbyStarAllies'' is then pulled, where [[spoiler:an innocuous butterfly floats by and absorbs Soul Forgo, revealing itself to be Morpho Knight]].

* BlackoutBasement: Two of the stages (namely, Invasion at the House of Horrors and Moonlight Canyon) feature sections with pitch-black paths (aside from a small portion lit around Kirby) that Kirby needs to illuminate with his new Light Bulb Mouth.
* BladeLock: During Meta Knight's TurnsRed phase, he may charge up an attack and swoop in on Kirby. If you are equipped with a Sword-type ability, you can respond with a Sword attack, resulting in Kirby and Meta Knight clashing swords, and winning the clash knocks Galaxia out of Meta Knight's hands and stuns him. You can then pick up Galaxia to acquire the Meta Knight Sword ability, forcing Meta Knight to fly off to grab a basic sword to continue the battle. [[spoiler:This can also be done with Phantom Meta Knight in The Ultimate Cup Z.]]

** [[spoiler:Fecto Elfilis’ theme, “Two Planets Approach the Roche Limit”,]] also contains a remix of “Welcome to the New World!”.

** "The Battle of Blizzard Bridge" is a MiniBoss variant that pits the player against Fleurina and the Wild versions of Mr. Frosty, Bonkers, and Gigant Edge in a similar fashion to the mini-boss rush stages of previous ''Kirby'' games. [[spoiler:Additionally, much like the mini-boss rushes of ''Adventure''[=/=]''Nightmare in Dream Land'', ''Return to Dream Land'', and ''Star Allies'',[[note]]after the 4.0.0 update[[/note]] there's a secret path that leads to harder fights, in this case fighting twins of mini-bosses, and a greater money reward at the end.]]

** Averted with Vending Mouth Kirby, where the number of cans left in the vending machine is kept track of, and Kirby cannot shoot if he runs out of cans.
** Same goes for Water Balloon Kirby, when he does a Mouthful Mode on a water pump. Kirby can shoot a stream of water, but shrinks in size the less there is, until he runs out.

** Said stage's secret route is comprised entirely of fighting mid-boss twins. The final fight appears to be a subversion with a fight against one Wild Frosty...but then gets double-subverted shortly afterwards, as the stage still ends with a battle against Twin Wild Frosty.

* EveryoneKnowsMorse: [[spoiler:At the start of Lab Discovera, the elevator makes beeping sounds as it's starting up. Said beeping is actually Morse code that spells "[[https://twitter.com/haruda0316/status/1510431813948243970 EFILLIN]]", the Japanese, Chinese and Korean transliteration of "Elfilin".]]

* ExactlyWhatIAimedAt: [[spoiler:In the last phase of Chaos Elfilis fight, the first time they use their fireball attack they will fly over the arena in a way that it is hard ''not'' to dodge the attack. However, this is because they were flying at an asteroid of debris that they destroy, with the fragments starting to rain down the arena as they come back for another shot.]]

** There are a lot of empty cages that have been used for capturing Waddle Dees leading up to the ruined architecture in the boss stage of Winter Horns. Enter and Kirby sees [[spoiler:King Dedede caging his own Waddle Dees and sending them off to an unknown destination.]]

** [[spoiler:Morpho Knight's butterfly]] can be spotted briefly during the intro cinematic, [[spoiler:setting up its later appearance as the TrueFinalBoss.]]

* FreezeFrameBonus: If you don't pay attention after defeating [[spoiler:Morpho Knight]], it's easy to miss the [[spoiler:silhouette of Fecto Forgo that appears and warps away right after Morpho Knight's explosion.]]

** At the end of Forgo Dreams, the remaining essence of [[spoiler:Fecto Forgo]] reappears and transforms into their more powerful Soul form preparing to attack Kirby and friends. Then right after his BossSubtitles disappear [[spoiler:the camera pans over to the left where a familiar butterfly is flying towards the two.]]

* FunWithAcronyms: Counting the final level as two letters, the first letters of all of the level names--'''N'''atural Plains, '''E'''verbay Coast, '''W'''ondaria Remains, '''W'''inter Horns, '''O'''riginull Wasteland, '''R'''edgar Forbidden Lands, and [[spoiler:'''L'''ab '''D'''iscovera]] spell out NEWWORLD.

* GenreThrowback: While still retaining elements of the ''Super Star'' style that was largely followed by the previous four mainline ''Kirby'' games, ''Forgotten Land'', partly as a consequence of attempting to retain ''Kirby'''s simplicity in [=3D=], more closely follows the general philosophy of the Dark Matter Trilogy installments (''[[VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand2 Dream Land 2]]'', ''[[VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand3 Dream Land 3]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/Kirby64TheCrystalShards Kirby 64]]''). This includes having a relatively small amount of Copy Abilities in exchange for a system to enhance said abilities, a greater emphasis on optional puzzle solving in order to acquire an optional collectible, and [[spoiler:a ramped-up SurpriseCreepy nature even compared to the rest of the series towards the end]].

** [[spoiler:Morpho Knight, for the [[VideoGame/KirbyStarAllies second time]]]]. When [[spoiler:Soul Forgo]] is about to fight Kirby at the end of [[spoiler:Forgo Dreams]], [[spoiler:Morpho Knight flutters in and absorbs their power]] with barely any {{foreshadowing}}.

* GrievousHarmWithABody: While there are no copy abilities with a traditional grab like in older Kirby games, [[AnIcePerson Ice]] can still knock around frozen enemies, and [[TheSpiny Needle]] and [[BlowYouAway Tornado]] can hold multiple enemies/stars with their basic attack and release them all at once. The latter two are notable in that this is the first time Kirby has been able to use multiple enemies/stars as throwable ammo at once, instead of one at a time, without inhaling them as normal Kirby.

*** Dodging works differently with Ice's variants and Gigant Sword than usual -- you only dodge coming out of guard, rather than at any time.
*** In addition to the TimeStandsStill and Invincible Candy-esque TouchOfDeath effects, Time Crash has an unspoken extra effect of ''extending'' the time stop with each additional enemy killed[[note]]The Treasure Road for this ability requires you to know this too.[[/note]].

** One attack from [[spoiler:Chaos Elfilis' second phase]] involves the boss dropping rocks onto the stage before charging the entire arena - dodging or guarding will not work, and the player is supposed to climb a series of rocks that formed into pillars to jump over it.

* AmbiguouslyHuman: A lot of the new world's architecture and technology is startlingly similar to modern-day Earth's, including things such as sky scrapers, automobiles, and vending machines. Then there's the Beast Pack, the creatures which inhabit the ruins of the previous civilization, who are all almost exclusively based off of real-life animals. These commonalities with Earth seem to hint that humans may have been the previous inhabitants of the planet before they all [[spoiler:[[HomeworldEvacuation abandoned it]] to enter a "land of dreams".]] That being said, the game never gives any indication of what the previous inhabitants looked like and the geography isn't exactly 1:1 to Earth's, so it's just as likely that the previous inhabitants may not have been human. It's worth noting that no part of the new world depicts humanoid figures -- for instance, there are no clothing stores or mannequins in Alivel Mall, and the Holine Custom Autos ads only show the cars, with no people riding in them.

** [[spoiler:Ironically enough, Fecto Forgo itself was subjected to this, when the inhabitants of the New World captured it, they locked it in a test tube and conducted experiments on it, turning it into a tourist attraction and forcing it to listen to the tour guide say those same four words. [[PunctuatedForEmphasis Every. Single. Day.]] for at least 30 years, and God knows how many more after the original inhabitants left. The theme music for the room leading to Forgo Leon’s boss fight also implies that the experience may have ''[[SanitySlippage driven it insane]]''.]]
* AngelicAbomination: [[spoiler:FinalBoss Fecto Elfilis, the true form of Fecto Forgo and Elfilin -- an elegant, anthropomorphic creature with more pronounced EarWings, a spear resembling a caduceus, and devastating psychic abilities.]] Both beautiful and unnerving, [[spoiler:the character's reveal during its boss intro even has the sun shine behind its head like a halo.]] In the main story, [[spoiler:it forms its body from the goo of assimilated Beast Pack members and begins to ''melt'' after freeing Elfilin; you can later see the beast souls trying to escape as [[{{Superboss}} Chaos Elfilis]] dies.]]

** If you finish a stage without discovering one of the hidden objectives, the game will tell you what the objective is. It will only reveal one undiscovered objective per playthrough of the stage, however.

** "Forgo", which is [[spoiler:heavily associated with King Dedede's second boss form, Specimen ID-F86, and the strange dimension known as the Isolated Isles of Forgo Dreams.]]
* ArmiesAreEvil: The new enemies and bosses are members of the [[IntelligentGerbil Beast Pack]], the main antagonists of the game. Slightly more pronounced in the Japanese, Chinese and Korean versions, where they're called the [[DubNameChange Beast Corps]] instead. [[spoiler:Ultimately subverted, the Beast Pack are actually being manipulated by the BigBad and are normally peaceful if protective of their homeworld.]]

* BaitAndSwitchBoss: The boss of [[spoiler:the Isolated Isles of Forgo Dreams]] gets its own BossSubtitles under the name [[spoiler:Soul Forgo]], implying a full boss fight; however, the same trick from ''VideoGame/KirbyStarAllies'' is then pulled, where [[spoiler:an innocuous butterfly floats by and absorbs Soul Forgo, revealing itself to be Morpho Knight.]]

* BigBad: At first, it seems to be King Dedede, but it eventually becomes apparent that he's simply TheHeavy for [[spoiler:Leongar, the leader of the Beast Pack. Leongar himself is nothing but a pawn to Elfilin's EnemyWithout, Fecto Forgo, who was trying to capture and absorb Elfilin to restore its original form, Fecto Elfilis.]]
* BigBadassRig: [[spoiler:The game's final Mouthful mode is the Big-Rig Mouth that Kirby needs to use to chase down Fecto Elfilis before they crash Planet Popstar down onto the new world.]]

** The first and last Mouthful Modes [[spoiler:of the main story are the Car-Mouth, the only difference being that instead of any regular car, Kirby inhales a BigBadassRig for the finale.]]

** Near the start of the game [[spoiler:where Elfilin is first seen, he's captured in a cage that Kirby saves him from. After defeating Leongar in Lab Discovera, Elfilin is again freed, this time from a capsule.]]

** [[spoiler:Fecto Elfilis’ theme “Two Planets Approach the Roche Limit”,]] also contains a remix of “Welcome to the New World!”.

** The Colosseum in Waddle Dee Town, unlocked midway through the game, serves this purpose, allowing you to fight the game's bosses and mini-bosses one after the other with limited recovery items much like previous ''Kirby'' games' boss rush modes, including an exclusive OptionalBoss in the form of Meta Knight. It consists of three levels: the Meta Knight Cup, the initial level unlocked with the Colosseum that only has half of the game's main bosses, The Ultimate Cup, which stands in for The Arena as the full rush against all of the story bosses, and [[spoiler:The Ultimate Cup Z, which stands in for The True Arena as the rush against the post-game Phantom variants of the bosses and Morpho Knight plus a {{Superboss}} against Phantom Meta Knight and the TrueFinalBoss against Chaos Elfilis.]]

** Same goes for Water Balloon Kirby, when he does a mouthful mode on a water pump. Kirby can shoot a stream of water, but shrinks in size the less there is, until he runs out.

* BrainwashedAndCrazy: King Dedede, [[OnceAnEpisode of course]], but also [[spoiler:Leongar, who was being controlled by the main villain, Fecto Forgo, to establish the Beast Pack and carry out its scheme for total annihilation. An attempt was made on Meta Knight, but this time Meta Knight's HeroicWillpower won out.]]

** This is the first time the dedicated BossRush mode both exists in-universe and is canon to a ''Kirby'' game by way of the Colosseum, [[spoiler:and clearing The Ultimate Cup Z provides some closure for Soul Forgo and Elfilin's relationship.]]

** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Wmh_NwSJ3o Ranger ability]] lets Kirby charge up a more powerful projectile while aiming with a LaserSight. The Noble Ranger Evolved Ability [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gI_hH7RRLYU changes it]] to a [[MoreDakka rapid-fire]] barrage of projectiles. The Space Ranger Evolved Ability turns into into a shot that becomes a SphereOfDestruction upon hitting the target.

** The "Lightron Works Sign" figurine description mentions that after the company split up, several rivals sprung up and led to massive corporate battles, bringing to mind the [[VideoGame/KirbyPlanetRobobot Haltmann Works Company]] and [[spoiler:Susie's plan to steal Star Dream and sell it to a competitor.]]

* DarkerAndEdgier: The Beast Pack bosses have more realistic designs than normal, with [[MsFanservice Clawroline]] standing out in particular. Then [[spoiler:King Dedede's routine possession is portrayed more seriously than previous games. It all culminates in Fecto Forgo, whose battle features some of the most gruesome imagery in the entire series.]] In fact, this game is the first in the series to receive a "Fear" warning in its PEGI rating.

** The game has special blue Star Coins that are located in areas that seem to reward players who go out of their way to explore every nook and cranny of each stage, such as hiding one in the bushes of Point of Arrival that requires you to backtrack to it after getting the Sword copy ability to mow it down, or in a rooftop in Downtown Grassland that you can just barely fly to.

** In the postgame, [[spoiler:you have to collect at least 250 pieces of Leon's soul across six stages, allowing you to unlock the final seventh stage. To ensure the unlocking cutscene only plays after clearing the six preceding stages, the most soul fragments you can have by the end of the fifth stage is 249.]]

* DiscOneFinalBoss: King Dedede is poised to be the final boss and leader of the Beast Pack [[spoiler:twice. The first time is in Winter Horns before the Forbidden Lands are revealed, and the second time is at the end of Redgar Forbidden Lands, before the boss fight with Leongar, the true leader of the Beast Pack, and Fecto Forgo / Fecto Elfilis, the actual mastermind behind the entire plot.]]

* DoubleMeaningTitle: The name of the final stage. [[spoiler:"In the Presence of the King" can refer to not just King Dedede, who is at that point presumed to be the main antagonist, but also Leongar, the King of the Beasts... as well as the presence that's truly in command.]]

* TheDragon: Clawroline to [[spoiler:Leongar.]] She's specifically stated to be her boss' point of contact. [[spoiler:In truth, she was actually the Beast Pack's co-leader prior to Leongar finding Fecto Forgo.]]

** [[spoiler: Ironically enough, Fecto Forgo itself was subjected to this, when the inhabitants of the New World captured it, they locked it in a test tube and conducted experiments on it, turning it into a tourist attraction and forcing it to listen to the tour guide say those same four words. [[PunctuatedForEmphasis Every. Single. Day.]] for at least 30 years, and God knows how many more after the original inhabitants left. The theme music for the room leading to Forgo Leon’s boss fight also implies that the experience may have ''[[SanitySlippage driven it insane]]''.]]

** [[spoiler: Ironically enough, Fecto Forgo itself was subjected to this, when the inhabitants of the New World captured it, they locked it in a test tube and conducted experiments on it, turning it into a tourist attraction and forcing it to listen to the tour guide say those same four words. [[PunctuatedForEmphasis Every. Single. Day.]] for at least 30 years, and God knows how many more after the original inhabitants left. The theme music for the room leading to Forgo Leon’s boss fight also implies that the experience may have [[SanitySlippage ''driven it insane'']].]]