Coily Rattler

"A giant snake statue revered by the People of the Sky since the dawn of time. Its body lies sheathed in celestial golden armor, but the old texts say that its head lacks protection!"

- VS Coily Rattler

Coily Rattler is a boss in Kirby: Triple Deluxe. It is fought in Stage 6 of Wild World, as well as Stage 2 of Royal Road, The Arena, and The True Arena. To unlock Wild World's sixth stage, the player must collect at least eight Sun Stones in the level. Coily Rattler holds a Grand Sun Stone. The boss is also fought in Stage 2 of Royal Road, The Arena, and The True Arena.

Before the first battle with Coily Rattler, Taranza flies into the temple arena carrying King Dedede in a web net. He hits a stone snake statue with a magic blast and flies off. Kirby dashes into the room just as the villain makes his escape. Taranza brushes against the statue on departure, causing it to fall apart and cascade off the platform and into the pit below. The serpent coils up a pillar in the distance and lands behind Kirby. With a color change and a ferocious hiss, the battle commences.

Coily Rattler's defenses make the snake a unique boss in Kirby: Triple Deluxe; its body is totally impervious to attack. Only attacks aimed at its unarmored head will inflict damage.

Physical Appearance
Coily Rattler is a golden snake made up of 12 pieces: a head, a tail tip four rounded connectors, and six hexagonal connectors. The round pieces are adorned with royal blue stripes. Coily Rattler's orange head has half an aquamarine orb sticking out the top, with a red band wrapped around it. The snake's eyes (which are not reptilian) are yellow with black pupils. The serpent has a forked tongue and six teeth in its bottom jaw.

In Dededetour, Coily Rattler's body takes on a pearl-platinum color palette, with golden stripes, and a dark blue half-orb protruding from its head. The red band surrounding the serpent's half-orb bends upward into horns.

Main Game
Coily Rattler starts the battle by spitting three volcanic rocks at Kirby -- these can be inhaled to acquire the Fire ability. After hissing, the boss will slither across the platform and off the screen; due to its winding movement, the snake's body won't touch large parts spaces on the platform, making these spots safe to stand on. Coily Rattler will then return to the stage, then quickly lead off-screen. It will attempt to fall from the sky and land on Kirby. After another hiss, the serpent approach the hero and attempt to strike him with a flurry of blows from its tail. This attack causes heavy damage if not avoided or guarded. Coily Rattler will then spit more rocks and slither across the screen again -- instead of returning to the platform, it will coil up a background pillar and spit rocks at the hero from a distance. After this, its attack pattern will loop.

When 50% of the serpent's vitality is depleted, its pattern changes completely. It will coil around the platform and travel off-screen. Like its slither attack, Kirby can avoid it by standing in certain spots. When Coily Rattler returns in the background, its body will separate into 12 individual pieces; each piece will drop from the air and hit the platform, with the boss's head pausing for a few seconds after landing. Once it has reassembled itself it will form a flaming ring of parts, then cross the platform moving up and down. Coily Rattler's head will then emerge from the top of the screen. After a few moments the boss will rush at Kirby -- if it misses, it will try a second time. If the pink puff is caught by the move, the snake will drag him all over the background before spitting him onto the foreground; this is Coily Rattler's strongest attack by far. After this, the serpent will slither on the platform's underside and emerge, spitting rocks at Kirby. This move will be immediately repeated. After coiling across the platform again, the boss will coil around a background pillar and spit a volley of rock across the stage. When this is done, it will roll up into a ring and race across the stage, roll partway across the platform's underside, turn around, and roll back in the direction it came.

By this point, Coily Rattler will use attacks from its first and second phase interchangeably. Upon defeat, the serpent will coil up a background pillar and turn back into a statue. Each piece will explode, and its head will leave behind a Grand Sun Stone.

Dededetour
Coily Rattler DX's attacks are similar to those of Coily Rattler. It spits five volcanic rocks rather than three, can slither and coil across the stage much more quickly, and slams the ground four or even five times instead of once. The boss will rush at Kirby when using its tail whip move. Rather than dropping each piece of itself onto the platform, each will fly at Kirby from the background with the serpent's head lunging to end the attack. As a fiery ring, Coily Rattler DX can change directions to catch the hero off guard. Before the boss lunges from the ceiling, it will attempt to psych the player out by jerking its head before quickly pulling itself off the screen -- if the snake catches Kirby with the attack, it will spit him directly into the screen. In addition to its normal wheel routine, Coily Rattler DX will leap into the air in this form to hit its opponent.

Trivia

 * Coily Rattler's name may be an homage to Fatty Puffer. Both names are composed of two words; the first ends with a y, and the second ends with er.
 * Despite being named Coily Rattler, its tail does not have a rattle.
 * Coily Rattler's head appears to made of an orangeish metal, presumably copper. This could be a subtle pun on copperhead, a species of snake.
 * When Coily Rattler drops its individual pieces as an attack, they do not strike the platform in a random order. The body segments fall in order of the boss's body parts, starting with its tail tip and the ending with its head. This is the same in Dededetour as well.

Related Quotes
"This statuesque snake was once seen by the People of the Sky as a symbol of peace. However, it's since been corrupted by an evil magic and has become a scourge on the land."

- VS Coily Rattler DX