Sphere Doomer

"By the way, as you've been gathering Energy Spheres... Have you seen those crazy Sphere Doomers that show up from time to time? They're mysterious creatures that usually live in another dimension. Energy Spheres are their favorite snack. I'm sure that's why they're here. But I need all of my Energy Spheres back. Even the ones they've run off with!"

- Magolor

Sphere Doomers are mid-bosses that appear in Kirby's Return to Dream Land. They are all ruled by Grand Doomer and are members of the Another Dimension species known as Doomers. They have appeared in a little less than half of the stages of the game, only found at the end of the inter-dimensional rift areas. They fight Kirby, Meta Knight, King Dedede, and Bandana Waddle Dee, and hold two Energy Spheres each. Sphere Doomers are only found in levels that have a Super Ability.

Physical Appearance
Each variety of Sphere Doomer has a general appearance similar to one another. They have glowing eyes on the top half of the flowing matter that consists of the sphere and their bodies. Each one has a tuft of hair on the top half and a pair of rounded wings. Their lower halves have a tail with additional tail feathers hanging below, the amount depending on their rank.

The EX forms of Sphere Doomers have several subtle differences. Mainly, their wings and tails are more jagged than their normal counterparts, and the tufts on their upper half are single, pointed strands of hair. They are also cycloptic, having one eye instead of two.

Regular Sphere Doomer


This is the first and most common type of Sphere Doomer. They are purple, have yellow eyes, and have only two tail feathers. Their basic attacking patterns set the battle structure of all the other Sphere Doomers. They are, however, the weakest Sphere Doomers and have no unique attacks (excluding regular Sphere Doomer EX, who are the only Doomers to move in a zigzag when swooping in at Kirby), and they bestow no Copy Abilities when their projectiles are inhaled. Not counting Magolor's use of them when he attacks Kirby in Main Mode, regular Sphere Doomers are only encountered inside the inter-dimensional rift areas of the very first world, Cookie Country, and are never seen again until Stage 3 of Dangerous Dinner.

Regular Sphere Doomers attack by shooting slow-moving purple shadow orbs, either individually or in groups of three, that can be easily avoided. They may also swoop down near the ground to try to hit Kirby and his friends. After losing half of their health, these Sphere Doomers may try to ram them from the background, and may also shoot shadow orbs in groups of two.

In Extra Mode, these Doomers retain many of their abilities, but they are more powerful. Doomers in Extra Mode utilize new methods of dropping shadow orbs, such as rapidly flying across the top of the screen while dropping them, or shooting them at high velocity towards Kirby. Their background ramming attack is enhanced so that they zigzag around before the attack. After Kirby reduces these Doomers' healths to less than half, they may begin spitting shadow orbs in groups of four. Occasionally, these Doomers may create black holes in the middle of the arena, restricting the movement of the players as they are sucked towards the middle. These black holes may be combined with any of the Doomer's attacks for a more secure hit on Kirby.

In Stage 3 of Dangerous Dinner, a Fire Sphere Doomer is fought alongside a regular Sphere Doomer. Both of these foes are powered up slightly, so the regular one encountered here can attack faster than the ones seen in Cookie Country.

As an attack, Magolor opens a void during his battle and shoots multiple regular Sphere Doomers out.

Fire Sphere Doomer


The second type of Sphere Doomer found in Kirby's Return to Dream Land. This variant is capable of attempting a charged up dash of fire, very similar to Kirby's Burning ability. Swallowing its projectiles will give Kirby the Fire ability. It is red-orange, has yellow eyes, and three tail feathers. They're only found in inter-dimensional rift areas located in Raisin Ruins and Onion Ocean, as well as Stage 3 of Dangerous Dinner.

Fire Sphere Doomers mainly attack by shooting two fireballs, which can be inhaled for the Fire ability. These Doomers can also spin around in a circle and drop four fireballs or shoot three fireballs from midair; they can also swoop, like all Doomers. After half its health is depleted, they can perform a Burning attack in which the Doomer floats to Kirby's vertical position and then spins forwards in a raging fireball. They can also shoot more fireballs and their attacks are slightly faster.

In Extra Mode, they can shoot three fireballs or drop four fireballs, which leave a lingering flame after explosion. They can also swoop down much quicker. After half their health is gone, they can perform their burning attack. However, halfway through the attack, they will stop and reposition themselves to Kirby's current location, trying to attack him. They can now shoot four fireballs and create small black holes.

As this is the first Sphere Doomer that can bestow powers, its tactics are specifically designed so that Kirby can't suck up more than two of its projectiles at once, as this would trigger Kirby's Mix ability, potentially giving him powers that can't legitimately be obtained yet. In Extra Mode, however, this is no longer the case.

In the last level of Dangerous Dinner, a Fire Sphere Doomer is fought alongside a regular Sphere Doomer. As with the regular Sphere Doomer, this Fire Sphere Doomer is powered up slightly and can fire off three or more projectiles, even in Main Mode.

Spark Sphere Doomer
The third type of Sphere Doomer. Its Spark-based attributes allow it to fly around sending electricity above and below itself. Swallowing its projectiles will give Kirby the Spark ability. It is green, has yellow eyes, and four tail feathers. They're only found in inter-dimensional rift areas located in White Wafers and Nutty Noon.

Spark Sphere Doomers mainly attack by creating two homing spark balls or dropping three spark balls that explode. These can inhaled and will give Kirby the Spark ability. They swoop down, like all Doomers. After half its health is gone, the sphere doomer will fly slowly to one side of the screen and then spin its way across to the other side, periodically sending bursts of lightning above and below itself: it can also summon four green spheres from the air that will each send down a bolt of electricity. These Doomers can also summon four homing electric balls and can attack from the background, similar to other sphere doomers.

In Extra Mode, they can shoot three electric spheres or drop four spheres. When they explode, the spheres send surges of electric energy upwards. These Doomers can swoop down twice in a row and send out three homing energy spheres that have the same properties as the others. After half of its health is gone, they can send out four or five spheres. When they go in the background, they can release four or five spark balls which explode eventually or swiftly try to ram the heroes. Like the other Sphere Doomers in Extra Mode, they can create miniature black holes. These monsters will also send out three large Spark balls that penetrate defenses. Spark Sphere Doomers can also perform an attack where they create a green double beam in the shape of an S, replacing their spinning lightning attack used earlier. This can only be avoided by going under it when it passes by.

Ice Sphere Doomer


The fourth and final type of Sphere Doomer. It has Ice powers that it uses in battle against Kirby, namely dropping down while cloaking itself in a freezing body slam. It is white, has blue eyes, and five tail feathers. They're only found in inter-dimensional rift areas located in Egg Engines and Dangerous Dinner and, as such, are the only Sphere Doomers that can't be encountered before the Grand Doomer.

Ice Sphere Doomers mainly attack by surrounding themselves with four ice spheres. These can be destroyed before they are sent at Kirby and his friends, or super inhaled before the Sphere Doomer can even fire them. These Doomers can shoot multiple ice balls and can even throw them from the background. These can be inhaled for the Ice ability. After half its health is gone, it can surround itself with the snow balls and slowly spread them out, sending them all towards the party when it is finished. It can also surround itself in a cold aura and slowly drift towards players: several seconds later the Sphere Doomer either creates three small ice storms or one huge storm in an attempt to freeze the party. All of its previous attacks are now faster and home in on the gang.

In Extra Mode, they can launch four to five homing ice balls. They can create mini black holes that last a bit longer than the other Doomers' black holes, and can swoop three times. After half of their health is gone, these Sphere Doomers can use their ice attacks much faster and usually follow up with another. They can create three large ice storms: the first two have the Sphere Doomer teleport above a party member and fall to the ground before exploding, and the final one is always in the middle and launches four icicles towards the corners of the screen. These Sphere Doomers can even flip the arena upside down, maintaining the controls, but potenially confusing players badly if not expecting it.

As an attack, Magolor EX creates an inter-dimensional rift during his battle and shoots multiple Ice Sphere Doomers out; these Sphere Doomers replace the normal ones that Magolor used in Main Mode. Curiously, they are not Extra Mode Sphere Doomers.

Trivia

 * If Kirby defeats a Sphere Doomer and replays the level, the golden-colored gear in the creature's body will be replaced by a red star, as collected Energy Spheres are replaced with stars.
 * Their favorite snacks are Energy Spheres, according to Magolor.
 * Of the four Sphere Doomer variations, the Ice Sphere Doomer is the only one with differently-colored eyes;  the others' eyes are yellow, while the Ice type's are blue. This is the case in both Main Mode and Extra Mode.
 * Regular Sphere Doomers have two tail feathers, Fire Sphere Doomers have three, Spark Sphere Doomers have four, and Ice Sphere Doomers have five.
 * Despite this, the Ice Sphere Doomers used by Magolor EX only have two tail feathers instead of five.
 * Unlike all other stages, two Sphere Doomers are fought in Stage 3 of Dangerous Dinner instead of one.