"What's with all the weird looks? Fine. Let me explain everything. I fought Landia by myself and lost. So I fled to Planet Popstar. That's when the thought struck me... I could have you defeat Landia for me! A stroke of genius, I know. You even helped me repair my Starcutter. I really did appreciate that, by the way. Anyway... MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! The time has come for your planet... No! The time has come for the ENTIRE UNIVERSE to bow down to me. And for being such a big help in all of this, your planet gets to go first! Prepare to bow, Popstar! Welcome your new overlord!"
— Magolor, Kirby's Return to Dream Land
In the whimsical world of Kirby these baddies stand out as the most devious and cunning
All spoilers are unmarked. You Have Been Warned!
Main series
- Super Star: Meta Knight's one true running as Big Bad in "Revenge of Meta Knight" showcases him to be a ruthless Determinator on par with Kirby himself. Aboard his faceship the Halberd, Meta Knight attempts to conquer all of Pop Star to liberate it from its "lazy" lifestyle while repeatedly preventing Kirby from opposing his takeoff, forcing him to waste his time fighting Heavy Lobster before blowing both away with the Halberd's jets. Even when Kirby's tenacity ends up with the Halberd crashing toward the sea, Meta Knight refuses to give up, persistently hounding Kirby until the literal last minute. Even at his worst, Meta Knight is a Noble Demon, offering Kirby a sword to fight him with in an even duel as he always does, and quietly regretting he's unable to save his crew from certain death due to their Undying Loyalty toward him.
- Return to Dreamland & Deluxe remake: Magolor, upon crash-landing in Dream Land, plays the innocent victim to persuade Kirby and his friends into repairing his ship, traveling with him to Halcandra, and defeating the dragon Landia, whereupon he seizes the Master Crown and sets his sights in conquering the rest of the universe, starting with Planet Popstar. After being defeated and stranded in an alternate dimension, Magalor still manages to fight his way out while destroying the corrupting Master Crown, taking refuge in an alternate Dreamland before making it back to his own universe. What separates Magolor from the other one-shot villains of the series is his personable and talkative personality, going so far as to earnestly thank Kirby for his help even as he betrays him. Having a change of heart in Kirby's Dream Collection onwards while retaining his cheeky personality, Magolor set a standard of character depth for future Kirby antagonists.
- Forgotten Land: Sillydillo, the "Armor-Plated Prancer", is a deranged-looking armadillo working for the Beast Pack. After Kirby's main ally Elfilin is captured, Sillydillo lures Kirby into his lair with a doll resembling Elfilin. Battling Kirby, Sillydillo tries to capture him in a cage, and even utilizes a "dance partner" he made out of junk when his health gets low enough. Loyal to his King, Sillydillo makes a Heel–Face Turn at the end when Leongar is saved. In spite of his comical nature, Sillydillo proves himself to be quite the crafty adversary.
Examples
- Customer Service is the smooth-talking salesman of Nightmare Enterprises. The main man King Dedede turns to whenever he needs a Monster to clobber that there Kirby, Customer routines making a dupe out of Dedede while making as much profit as he can out of his crooked deals. Customer Service also excels in collecting debt from the greedy King, whether it be using a "ghost" to scare him out of his cash, to rigging his super-successful Waddle Dee vending machines to pay off NME instead. Not only the company's most successful salesman but The Dragon to Nightmare himself, Customer Service tricks Dedede one last time in the finale into revealing the location of the heroes before dispatching the Heavy Lobster to dispose of them, bidding farewell to Dedede with the remark he's been fond of "double-dealing" with him to the end.
- "Ninja Binge": Yamikage is a powerful warrior who once successfully betrayed the Star Warriors and one-upped Meta Knight himself. Summoned in the present by King Dedede, Yamikage showcases honor and skills alike as he tuckers out and takes down the young warrior Benikage while proving himself unable to be surprised even by a stealth Meta Knight. After putting Kirby through a harsh fight, Yamikage vanishes with a smoke bomb, escaping into the nearby forest and swearing to one day return for revenge on the hero.
- "A Spice Odyssey": Monsieur Goan is a tiny but devilishly cunning Supreme Chef who wins all of Cappy Town to his side through his brilliant cooking. Actually a Monster from NME, Goan uses his rival Chef Kowalski's spicy recipes to his advantage, brewing up a soothing cold sorbet he's spiced with a chemical that makes anyone who eats it want to eat Kirby. Goan ends up rallying the entire town in the end in an attempt to devour Kirby himself.
- "A Novel Approach": The Broom King disguises himself as Pappy Pottey author Rowlin to turn King Dedede's castle into a "magic school" and lure the entire populace of Dream Land to the school as students, using their obsession with Pappy Pottey to turn them into his puppets. After fooling the whole town with his Rowlin guise, the Broom King uses a harmless sport to enact a brainwashing curse that turns the whole town against Kirby, nearly destroying the pink hero. Even when exposed, the Broom King uses a variety of cleaning utensils to fight Kirby and nearly defeat him in physical combat.
Non Canon works
- Super Smash Bros. Brawl's Subspace Emissary mode: King Dedede, the resident arch-frenemy of Kirby, turns out to be the single most effective operator in a cast already full of Nintendo heroes and villains alike. Already aware of Tabuu's master plan, Dedede goes about gathering as many trophies as he can through a mixture of brute force and trickery, ambushing Luigi and then using his trophy form to tempt the greedy Wario long enough for Dedede to abscond with everyone Wario has captured. Even after he himself is turned into a trophy, Dedede's Chekhov's Gun—in the form of a golden badge in his likeness that auto-resurrects anyone turned into a trophy—saves the day after the entire cast has been taken down by Tabuu, which allows Dedede to rally the remaining heroes and villains alike to face the true threat. As Affably Evil as he is in canon and twice the manipulator, Dedede's plan ends up totally undoing Tabuu and everything he planned for.
