King Dedede

"This selfish Dream Land king wields a big hammer that's almost as big as his mouth!"

- King Dedede's Cast Description

King Dedede (also spelled King DeDeDe or King DDD) is a major recurring antagonist (and anti-hero) to Kirby in Nintendo and HAL Labs' long-running Kirby video game series, appearing in every game except the game Kirby & the Amazing Mirror, making him the most recurring major character of the series besides Kirby and Waddle Dee. He is the greedy self-proclaimed king of Dream Land, which is located on the quaint planet Pop Star.

Due to an ambiguous description of the geography of Pop Star, it is never made entirely clear how much of the planet King Dedede assumes leadership 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.

Physical Appearance and Personality
King Dedede resembles a large penguin-like creature dressed in red royal finery, with his personal emblem (either a picture of himself performing the peace sign, or, in the anime and later games, just the peace sign alone) embossed on the back of his robe, as well as most of the items or weaponry he owns and/or endorses. King Dedede himself is rather portly, is blue-skinned and has a yellow mouth (which has always been depicted as more of a beak). He is consistently seen with his round red cap, which has a yellow or golden rim and a white ball at the top. He has blue flipper-like hands, though they are usually covered by a pair of yellow mittens. He has a tan belly and a tan piece of clothing, but these are not shown in some games. In addition, he has a red and yellow zigzag-patterned girdle-like band stretched across his waist. His trademark weapon is a large star-studded hammer that he wields as an offensive weapon and can swing around with the greatest of ease. He is able to inhale objects and spit them out in a manner similar to Kirby. According to Super Smash Bros. Melee, he apparently underwent a series of rigorous training programs to learn and master the use of inhaled air to fly like Kirby. This occured after the events of Kirby's Dream Land.

Although Dedede is a primary antagonist, he is not necessarily evil. Several of his deeds are performed when under possession by some other entity - three times by the Dark Matter and once by Yin-Yarn. Whenever he is the villain of his own volition in the games, however, it is usually due to selfish mischief, such as stealing food or trying to prove himself better than Kirby. Despite his greed and selfishness, he sometimes has pure intentions behind his actions. His role as the antagonist of Kirby's Adventure was ultimately to protect Dream Land from Nightmare by hiding the Star Rod. He has also willingly helped Kirby in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, Kirby's Return to Dream Land, and the Subspace Emissary story of Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Dedede is sometimes seen to be on friendly terms with Kirby, especially in the more recent games. He shows no apprehension towards helping Kirby in Kirby's Return to Dream Land and is visibly very happy to see him towards the end of the Subspace Emissary, even going as far as to run up to hug him. Despite this, he is still the main antagonist in the anime, although it is revealed near the end that he enjoys their one sided rivalry to an extent and that he does not actually wish for Kirby to die, which eliminates his role as a villain at the anime's conclusion.

Although King Dedede's authority and influence over Dream Land is seldom questioned in the games, events and descriptions in several spinoffs and references including Kirby: Right Back at Ya!, and Dedede's trophy description and a Codec conversation with Colonel Campbell in Super Smash Bros. Brawl suggests that it is highly subjective depending on context. King Dedede himself takes it for granted, and his army of Waddle Dees serve him and staff Castle Dedede, willingly or not, it is not clear. Meanwhile other creatures happily go about their business with or without him. In Kirby: Right Back at Ya!, when his people choose to defy him whenever he oversteps his bounds, he has little to no enforcement of his authority to stop them, short of ordering monsters from Nightmare Enterprises and having it backfire on Escargoon and himself.

Kirby's Dream Land
King Dedede first appeared in Kirby's Dream Land as the main antagonist, where he and several thieves acting on his part steal all of the food in Dream Land and, in either an attempt to crush morale or simply to cause needless mischief, he steals the inhabitants' treasured Sparkling Stars and gives them to his underlings. Appearing as the final boss of the game, his actions are reversed by Kirby upon his defeat, with a finishing blow that sends him flying through the ceiling of his castle.

Kirby's Adventure and ''Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land
In Kirby's Adventure and its remake, Dedede has broken up the fabled Star Rod and removed it from the Fountain of Dreams, giving him full control over the fountain. This leaves the people of Dream Land unable to dream, and Kirby is dispatched with the task of recovering all the pieces and punishing the king for his selfish actions. In a key plot revelation, defeating King Dedede makes it apparent that he was actually trying to protect Dream Land from the Nightmare that took residence in the fountain, and even goes so far as to spit out Kirby into outer space so Kirby can defeat them. This is 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 series where King Dedede would serve as the apparent final boss, but collecting all the pieces of the game's key item would reveal the true instigator of Dream Land's problems.

Kirby's Dream Land 2
In what is seen as one of the darker points of the series, Dark Matter takes control over King Dedede's body in Kirby's Dream Land 2, plotting to rule Dream Land after separating the Rainbow Islands by destroying the Rainbow Bridges. After battling Dedede's associates across the seven separated islands, Kirby made his way to King Dedede's chamber in Dark Castle's looming tower. Under Dark Matter's control, Dedede was trapped in an unnatural sleep throughout his confrontation with Kirby, but otherwise fought exactly as he did in Kirby's Dream Land. He could also power himself up in fits of rage, making his attacks more explosive and giving them wider range, even being able to toss his hammer at Kirby, which would explode on contact.

Although Kirby could face his rival at Dark Castle to his heart's content, only after collecting the seven Rainbow Drops could he truly save the day. After defeating Dedede with the seven drops in hand, Kirby was rewarded the Rainbow Sword as Dark Matter emerged from the king's limp body, and the two dueled high in space. As shown in the game's ending, Dedede finally awoke and recovered after the battle, and was even glad for Kirby when Dark Matter was expelled from the land.

Kirby Super Star and Kirby Super Star Ultra
In Spring Breeze, the first sub-game of Kirby Super Star, Dedede's plays the same role he did in Kirby's Dream Land, as it is essentially a remake of said game. He is also fought in The Arena and can be raced in Gourmet Race, in which he challenges Kirby to eat more food than him while running a marathon against him. He is also in the sub-game Samurai Kirby where he is the penultimate enemy (the last being Meta Knight).

In Kirby Super Star Ultra, Dedede has all the same roles that he did in the first game, but here his role was greatly expanded when he was given a new villain role in another sub-game; Revenge of the King. Here he plots Kirby's doom by once again stealing four of the Sparkling Stars to lure him into some old enemies that have gotten stronger. After Kirby fights his way through to the end of Dedede's castle, Dedede forces Kirby to take up a hammer for their final battle (though Kirby can choose not to use it by not picking it up and waiting). Dedede then reveals himself, wearing a mask and wielding a new, mechanized hammer. The fight style here is similar to the Meta Knight battles where the similar weapon is offered, and their mask breaks after they are defeated. He does not offer the hammer in The True Arena.

During the fight against him as Masked Dedede, Dedede is armed with the "all new Dedede Hammer" and is capable of a much larger moveset, in addition to a lack of his signature flinching when taking damage (though only during attacks that utilize the Dedede Hammer in some way). Four of his new attacks include firing miniature rockets from his hammer, using it as a flamethrower, performing a spinning attack similar to Hammer Kirby's, and making the hammer electrified in order to send out a wave of electricity along the floor after slamming it down. He still uses his trademark jump, but three times in a row this time. He also had apparently carefully thought up his revenge plot, to the point where he puts an electric cage around the arena, restricting Kirby's flight. Upon defeat, King Dedede is sent flying in a similar fashion to when he lost in Spring Breeze. He is seen in the ending credits dejectedly walking through a desert under a setting sun, in the company of his Waddle Dees. The desert area is similar to the one Kirby and Wheelie goes through at the end of Revenge of Meta Knight.

Kirby's Dream Land 3
King Dedede fought Kirby again in Kirby's Dream Land 3, this time as the boss of Iceberg.

Soon after meeting up with Dedede at the top of his castle, it quickly became apparent that he was taken over by Dark Matter once more. When the puppet king confronted Kirby (and Gooey) this time, he displayed not only his typical fighting skills, but some new and disturbing ones as well. At first he used his normal abilities, but once the finishing blow was landed, he became surrounded by an eerie mass of dark energy and began floating in the air, gaining an entirely new health bar. In this form Dark Matter finally shows itself, peeking its eye out of Dedede's body to shoot blobs of dark energy that would home in on Kirby and attempt to ram into him. Perhaps the most disturbing attack was when the king's stomach would split open into a large snarling mouth filled with sharp teeth and then would promptly chase after the player.

Defeating King Dedede and getting all of Iceberg's Heart Stars expelled the fiendish Dark Matter from his body. Further collecting all thirty of them revealed the way to the Hyper Zone, the mass of Dark Matter which housed Zero, the source of all the strange behavior. King Dedede, alongside Kirby's animal friends, will bear witness to Kirby taking off to fight and defeat Dark Matter and Zero once and for all.

Kirby's Avalanche
In Kirby's Avalanche, Dedede makes an appearance twice: The first time is at the ending of Easy mode, where he announces the Dream Fountain cup of the Avalanche tournament. The second appearance is as the final boss, where he challenges his rival, Kirby, for the championship.

Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards
In Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, King Dedede is fought very early on in the game and is possessed by Dark Matter once again. King Dedede, while surveying his kingdom, discovers a Crystal Shard and attempts to inspect it. Kirby attempts to retrieve it for Ribbon, but King Dedede stubbornly refuses and continues to inspect it. However, both are knocked back by a Dark Matter, and ends up possessed by Dark Matter when the latter discovers that it holds the Crystal Shard. Although significantly weaker, his attacks are similar to the ones from the previous game; using his hammer and spitting out blobs of Dark Matter. After Dark Matter is driven out, he gives his Crystal Shard (albeit bitterly). While the gang is departing, Waddle Dee tries to convince him to come along with them, which he clearly detests in doing - though he grudgingly follows and joins their group.

In some levels where Kirby wouldn't normally do much and probably wouldn't travel far, King Dedede comes and offers Kirby a lift. When controlling Dedede, the player will find that he can't do multiple jumps, but he can swing a hammer, which can break what Kirby couldn't, such as large walls or boulders.

If the player loses all six units of life while controlling King Dedede, he falls unconscious with Kirby unharmed-- he tries to shake Dedede awake and pulls off the white crown on Dedede's cap in the process. Despite the fact that Kirby is unharmed, the player still loses a life and has to start the room over again. Upon the completion of a Dedede portion, Kirby will direct Dedede as to where to go, to which Dedede will then grab Kirby and hurl him to his destination, waving goodbye as he does so.

When infiltrating Ripple Castle, Dedede will arrive to clear away a roadblock caused by cave-in.

In the false ending, Dedede bears is seen crying when departing from Ripple Star.

In the true ending, Dedede will accompany the party to Dark Star to destroy the Dark Matter threat once and for all. Dedede will then launch Kirby into the air by slamming a pedestal so he could fight the core of Dark Star, 02. Afterwards, he along with the rest of the party are awarded with medals made from the Crystal for their heroism by the Fairy Queen.

Kirby: Canvas Curse
In Kirby: Canvas Curse, a fake version of King Dedede appears in the game Cart Run as the opponent the player plays against. The king also appears as one of the drawings in Paint Panic.

Once the player defeats Drawcia using Waddle Dee, the player can unlock the real King Dedede in the Medal Swap section of the game. He is the biggest and heaviest unlockable character in the game. If the player taps him with the stylus, he will use his hammer, which is useful for breaking certain blocks, wooden pieces and taking down enemies. King Dedede has seven vitality points, and costs 20 Medals to unlock.

Kirby: Squeak Squad
King Dedede makes a first in the Kirby series by standing as the first boss in Kirby: Squeak Squad. Kirby suspects that Dedede had stolen his afternoon snack and confronts him. 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 quickly grabs Kirby and tosses him at them, knocking all of them into a pit that led to a cavern in Nature Notch. King Dedede is never seen in the game again.

Kirby's Epic Yarn
King Dedede serves as the boss of Snow Land in Kirby's Epic Yarn. However, he first appears back in his castle in Dream Land, bossing his Waddle Dees around. Noticing that one of them looks strange, Dedede is attacked by Yin-Yarn and his impostor Waddle Dees. Yin-Yarn then sucks Dedede into his magical sock, which transports him to Patch Land.

When starting the fight against Dedede, he spots Kirby, but just before he can act, a strange puppeteer-device flies at him and connects him to four strings that control him from above. His attacks range from jumping up and then slamming into the ground with his hammer, jumping up and down making shock waves and Gordos appear, and belly sliding across the slick icy floor. After the four strings have been plucked, the puppeteer-device is destroyed and Dedede is freed from its control. Kirby and Prince Fluff then obtain the sixth strand piece of Magic Yarn.

King Dedede appears once more in the game, following Kirby, Prince Fluff and Meta Knight back home to the yarn version of Dream Land, where his castle has been converted into a floating stronghold. There are also some King Dedede collectibles to be found such as a mini version of Castle Dedede and one of his robes. A doll of him can be bought from Chaise Woole in Quilty Square.

In the Japanese version of his dialogue, he tends to end his sentences with "-zoi" like he does in the original version of the anime.

Kirby Mass Attack
Dedede is fought as the third boss in Kirby Mass Attack. He starts out in a hot air balloon (which resembles his head) and tosses time bombs onto the Kirbys. These bombs must be bounced back at Dedede, so that they explode in his face when the clock strikes "0". After several hits, Dedede falls to the ground, where the Kirbys must tackle him to perform damage. After a few times of this, the balloon will float away and Dedede will resort to using stomp and hammer attacks. At this point the Kirbys' only chance to damage him is to get behind him when he uses his hammer attack and tackle him from behind. He is the only boss that can be accessed with only one Kirby (with the exception of the Boss Rush on Necro Nebula), and there is a checklist reward if the player can defeat him using only a single Kirby.

When defeated, a black/purple smoke is released from his body, implying that he may have once again been possessed, although it is never really explained.

King Dedede also appears in the Kirby Brawlball sub-game, where he will send Kirby to one of the boss levels when Kirby goes into his mouth. He also appears three times in the Kirby Quest RPG sub-game; as the boss of the first chapter, driving HR-D3 as the boss of the second chapter, and as a regular enemy in the final chapter.

Unused sprites of King Dedede exist in the coding of the game. These sprites show him as a playable character in Strato Patrol EOS. Rather than spitting a constant stream of stars like Kirby, he would have thrown a constant stream of hammers.

Kirby's Return to Dream Land
King Dedede is a playable character in Kirby's Return to Dream Land for the Wii. Unlike in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards where he was reluctant about joining forces with Kirby, this time he is eager and willing right from the start. Of the four playable characters, Dedede is treated as the group's comic relief.

Dedede has almost the same exact moveset as Hammer Kirby, but with two notable changes. The first being that he is unable to perform the Giant Swing move (that is, Kirby's midair move in which he spins the hammer around his body); instead Dedede just swings the hammer in front of him when in midair, not much differently than from his normal hammer attack.

The other difference is that Dedede is able to perform the Hammer Throw attack as often as he wishes. Normally Kirby would sacrifice his ability when he uses this last-ditch attack, but Dedede does not, basically giving him infinite projectile attacks.

Another interesting detail is that since Dedede inflates himself to fly like Kirby does, he can also use the Air Pellet as an attack.

Also notable is that the Hammer Twirl attack, a downward hammer spinning attack which both Hammer Kirby and Dedede can use, was originally introduced as one of Dedede's attacks in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Kirby's Dream Collection
Besides his roles in Kirby's Dream Land, Kirby's Adventure, Kirby's Dream Land 2, Kirby Super Star, Kirby's Dream Land 3, Kirby 64: The Crystal Stars, and the three included episodes of the Kirby: Right Back at Ya anime, Dedede makes an appearance in the game's opening.

In the game's opening, Dedede, along with Meta-Knight and Kirby, meet each other in their NES/Game boy sprites. After Kirby sucks in a star that he discovers, it results in them appearing in their 3D appearances, with Dedede then striking a pose, only for his stomach to comically inflate, causing him to irritably poke at his own belly. After noticing some Waddle Dees creating a "20th" monument out of star blocks. Kirby, despite Dedede's warnings sucks in the blocks (as well as the Waddle Dee foreman) before spitting it out to form a circular coin, as well as the Dedede foreman. Dedede then, at Kirby's beckoning, then swats Kirby into the coin with his hammer, forming the logo.

Kirby: Right Back at Ya!
King Dedede's appearance in the anime, Kirby: Right Back at Ya! is just like his appearance in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, with a blue stomach and a tan robe covering it. King Dedede's role is very much the same in the games execpt he has less of a soft side and is portrayed as more evil than he is in the games, with a meaner disposition (he is also much less intelligent and more bumbling). In the Japanese version of the anime, King Dedede has a verbal tic, ending most of his sentences with ぞい (-zoi), which carries no meaning. This is later carried over to the voiceover for his Japanese dialogue in Kirby's Epic Yarn. In the English dub, he speaks with a thick Southern/Texas accent (the accent is similar to Foghorn Leghorn) and often says ridiculous things. He is voiced in the Japanese version by Kenichi Ogota and in the English dub by Ted Lewis (who was credited as Ed Paul). He is the main antagonist of the show.

In the Kirby of the Stars Pilot, Dedede tries to get rid of Kirby using Wile E. Coyote-esque tricks and traps, only for them to quickly backfire in his face. He tries to help out when the sky darkens, but he gets zapped by what seems to be Nightmare. Strangely, his hat actually has a crown on it instead of the white bobble, reminiscent of Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards.



In Kirby: Right Back at Ya!, Dedede is the main villain of the show (next to Nightmare in the movie). His role is similar to his game roles - except that he has less of a good side, and is much more malicious, annoying, and very selfish. He now has a sidekick in the show named Escargoon, making a somewhat comical duo. He is angry at Kirby for having all the townspeople like him, he even kidnaps, imprisons, and ties up ANY of the children who get in his way to get the people to like him. For instance, Tiff tries to stop Dedede, however, she usually fails and is done by the choice of the King, which is the way she is captured, after all, Tiff is Kirby's best helper so Dedede has to aim for the right one, the girl herself. Dedede can't defeat Kirby himself, so he orders monsters called Demon Beasts from Nightmare Enterprises and sends them after Kirby. He is very jealous of Kirby as he thinks Kirby gets more respect than him and is angry because he is seen as mean in the Cappy's eyes. His castle is guarded by an innumerable amount of Waddle Dees and one Waddle Doo general, who seems to be able to translate what they say. He once fired them all when he purchased a robot from NME, but he rehired them when he found out that said robot was stealing his riches and giving them to Nightmare Enterprises in order to pay off Dedede's huge debt to them. He was slightly redesigned for the show, looking somewhat "less cute". Dedede's attire never deviates from his royal finery similar to those he wears in the games. The only other things he is seen wearing every so often are a shower cap which he sometimes dons when taking a bath, and a pair of outrageous purple sunglasses in the shape of his peace sign when he is sunbathing.



He claims that he's the 17,052nd ruler of Dream Land and that the Dedede clan has been ruling over the Cappies for a long time. None of the Cappies believed him so he tried to "prove it" by placing fake artifacts and fossils in the ground and having them excavated (with Curio's help). He was found out, however, and his plans were dashed by Stone Kirby when he unleashed the Dedede Stone.

His favorite food is apparently Turban Shells (or possibly what's inside them), which he often cooks and eats over a barbecue. Because of this, at one point, he nearly cooks Escargoon alive after the snail takes refuge in a particularly large one after the King himself broke his old shell. Dedede is often criticized about his weight, particularly by Knuckle Joe who would call him "Tubby", amongst other things (the Knuckle Joe incident, however, is dub-only; in Japan, Knuckle Joe called him the equivalent of "gramps"). He is also insulted often by Escargoon, because of his body weight and intelligence, but that usually ends up with him being the victim of Dedede's trusty hammer (sometimes Dedede doesn't understand what Escargoon means when he insults him, but pummels him anyway).



In a few episodes, it is emphasized that Dedede can't read unless he is read aloud to. However, in some episodes, he "can" read (at one point, Dedede even says he prefers books with pictures in them). One episode even reveals that part of his head is hollow, as if he has no brain. Why he's brainless is unknown but, despite this, he has attempted three times to create an education system to the people of Cappy Town. Each time has been led to failure and the destruction of the School.

In Kirby's Egg-Cellent Adventure, it is implied that he is an avid birdwatcher (though that was the only episode that this was witnessed). He also has an ambition to clear out the Whispy Wood's forest so he can build a country club and play his second favorite sport - Golf. His first favorite sport is apparently beating Escargoon to a pulp.

In some episodes, his trademark Hammer would be inhaled by Kirby to get the Hammer ability.

He eventually turns against Nightmare Enterprises nearing the finale, with Dedede and Escargoon also exacting revenge against Customer Service by force-feeding him one of Chef Kawasaki's poorly prepared meals.

Modes of Transportation


In early episodes, Dedede would ride in a tank-like Jeep, often in the gunner seat, where he would often fire the cannon (in particular, it was Dedede firing the cannon that wrecked Kirby's spaceship, leaving him stuck in Dream Land. As usual - he blamed it on Escargoon). In later episodes, Starting from The Kirby Derby - Part I, he would be seen in the passenger seat of a car resembling an old-fashioned Rolls Royce Limousine he purchased from Nightmare Enterprises. The Limousine is apparently fast and full of sneaky tricks and traps. Both the tank and the limousine were driven by Escargoon. No origins has been given to how the King got his Jeep, or why he got rid of it, though it's likely that he also purchased his Jeep from Nightmare Enterprises as well, possibly as one of his first purchases.

Dedede also owned a practically indestructible tour bus for one episode. It was never seen since that episode.

It is notable that Dedede is one of only two characters that own and frequently drives an automobile. The other character is Mayor Len Blustergas.

Kirby
For most episodes, Dedede sees Kirby as his enemy. For the first few, he is jealous. However, deep down, he sees Kirby as the real hero of Dream Land and cares for him. In the later episodes, Dedede's plots start to less involve killing Kirby and more of humiliating him. In some episodes, such as the episode where the Pengi clan invades Cappy Town, Dedede actually teams up with Kirby. In the episode Prediction Predicament Part II, Dedede even swings peacefully with Kirby and doesn't even mind his presence. It is shown that Kirby might have a few harsh feelings for Dedede, too, as he sometimes shows he doesn't like his plans (mainly if it's against food), and seems to find pleasure in pulling pranks on him and scaring him. Point being of all this, King Dedede respects Kirby, but doesn't show it.

Dedede's respect for Kirby was fully shown in "D'Preciation Day". After feeding Kirby bombs as a prank, the explosion drove Dedede into thinking that Kirby was dead. However, once he realized that Kirby wasn't dead, and Kirby's funeral was a counterprank by the Cappies, Dedede was overjoyed, and (instead of being angry at the Cappies for fooling him) claimed that he always needed Kirby as someone to compete with.

Waddle Dees
The Waddle Dees are the king's most loyal servants. They serve King Dedede's every whim as well as keep the castle clean and perform guard duty. In Pink-Collar Blues, it is mentioned that Waddle Dees are wanderers from across the sea and will settle down in an area where they are shown hospitality to return the favor. It can be inferred that Dedede is rather ungrateful for their work, as he has gotten rid of all of them twice. They seem to enjoy the work and do not have problems with King Dedede's personality. There are a few times were he shows appreciation for their loyal services. Most notably, in Waddle While You Work, after he sells them all he realizes how much he needs them and is truly touched by their loyalty. In Kirby Super Star Ultra, he has a Bandana Waddle Dee who acts as a personal assistant and keeps him calm during his panic attacks. They are also seen following him after his defeat in Revenge of the King. In Kirby: Squeak Squad, King Dedede summons platoons of them to help him fight. They also help him in Kirby Mass Attack, where they attack the Kirbys with bombs. In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, they distract Wario so Dedede can steal the Luigi trophy. They're also part of his attacks called the Waddle Dee Throw, and the Waddle Dee Army. Interestingly enough, the Waddle Dee trophy description states that they don't consider themselves to be affiliated with Dedede, despite their actions. Waddle Dees attack King Dedede in Kirby's Return to Dream Land, so not all of them may be controlled by the king (though this might just be for gameplay purposes).

Meta Knight
Although there are many episodes where Dedede and Meta Knight are seen together, they rarely interact. This may be a sly allusion to the games. However, it is known that Dedede respects Meta Knight, although he falsely believes that Meta Knight is "on his side".

Escargoon
Dedede sees Escargoon as his primary punching bag, even when it isn't Escargoon that makes him angry. Thus, Escargoon repeatedly insults Dedede, although there are times when Dedede does not respond, either because he's busy or because he is too dim witted to notice. At times, Dedede seems to feel sympathy for Escargoon, but for the most part he is just simply cruel to him, such as stealing his prized jewel collection for selfish purposes. Dedede even started scaring Escargoon until Escargoon got him back but good. The two do work together like by setting up traps for Cappies, but most of the time, their traps would backfire on the two. Dedede often treats Escargoon like a child, making him wear silly bibs and bonnets while eating.

Tiff
Tiff is Dedede's opponent and criticizes him publicly more than anyone else. She is constantly suspicious of him, but often cannot find enough evidence or do anything to stop him until it is too late, so Dedede doesn't worry about it too much. Dedede never goes as far as killing her, although he still despises her nonetheless. He uses her as bait for Kirby, so he can be able to pummel him. He has used Tiff, Tuff & Kirby as his targets, which has harmed them in many ways, such as trying to trick them into doing something for him and then trying to defeat them and destroy Kirby. But he was usually foiled by his pink rival. Dedede was often horrified when the Otakings had made a show that starred a much taller and more personified anime-styled version of Tiff, much to Tiff's frustration. He often makes fun of her just because he has the opportunity to do so. Dedede sees her brother and other children as pests. King Dedede doesn't really get along with Tiff, but they do work together with Kirby and the others eventually to save Dream Land.

Playable Appearances
Though the villain of the series, Dedede has had a handful of playable appearances in some of the more recent games.

Other games

 * In Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, in addition to being a playable ally in some levels of game, King Dedede is a playable character in the sub-games.
 * In Kirby Super Star, Dedede is playable in the two player version of Quick Draw.
 * 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 endeavor to take down a common enemy. He is the heaviest of all available balls, and sinks in water easily. He also has seven HP, the most of any other ball. When tapped, he swings his Hammer around him, which can still press down switches and stakes.
 * In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, he is a playable character.
 * In Kirby's Return to Dream Land, Dedede is playable by Players 2, 3, or 4. He is also playable in The Arena and The True Arena after both are beaten with Kirby.

Dedede's Theme Music


King Dedede's theme song often plays during battles against him. The song was used for the Dedede battle in Kirby's Dream Land and Kirby's Dream Land 2. In Kirby Super Star, the theme was extended and the new version was used for subsequent games. His theme music was not in the original NES version of Kirby's Adventure, however; the generic boss fight music plays instead. It was added in the Game Boy Advance remake, Nightmare in Dream Land for the mid-boss tower stage in Rainbow Resort. A remixed version of the song plays during the races against the fake Dedede in Kirby: Canvas Curse. The version of the song from Kirby Super Star also appears in Kirby Air Ride, as an unlockable music for the Fire track. In Kirby Super Star Ultra's Revenge of the King, Masked Dedede's theme is a remix of the extended theme.

Besides his own theme, King Dedede is also associated with the Gourmet Race theme from the sub-game in Kirby Super Star. An orchestral version of this theme originally debuted in the Fountain of Dreams stage of Super Smash Bros. Melee, and a remix of this was employed during battle against him in Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land. Both King Dedede's theme and the Gourmet Race theme feature as alternate music for the Battleship Halberd Stage in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the former being a remix of the SNES version, the latter being a heavy metal remix. The orchestral version from Melee returns as alternate music used for the Green Greens stage in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. The Gourmet Race theme was used again for the Castle Dedede stage of Kirby's Epic Yarn. In Kirby Mass Attack, the theme is used as the music for the bosses (with the exception of Skullord and Necrodeus, who use their own battle themes), including King Dedede Its track name is "Tough Enemy". It also plays in Stage 5 of Nutty Noon in Kirby's Return to Dream Land, which itself is a reference to the boss tower in Kirby's Adventure, but even more so its remake.

In the Super Smash Bros. Games


King Dedede was meant to be in the original Super Smash Bros. game, but was taken out due to memory limitations and time constraints. In Super Smash Bros. Melee, he was taken out supposedly due to Sakurai not wanting to over-represent the Kirby franchise at the time. However, he appears in the background of Dream Land in both of the games and as a Trophy in Melee. He finally appears in the Smash Bros. series, along with Meta Knight, in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Dedede is voiced by Masahiro Sakurai himself, as he was in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards. There are three stickers which feature him - one focusing on him giving Kirby a piggyback ride from the aforementioned game, another utilizing his design from Kirby: Squeak Squad, the last being his standard form from Kirby Super Star.

Special Moves
Standard Special Move - Inhale: Exactly as he does it in the games, he sucks up his helpless victim, then throws him/her elsewhere by spitting them out. As this is Dedede's Standard Special Attack, Kirby is also be able to use this when he inhales the King, but it will not be as potent as Dedede's. Similar to Kirby's inhale, Dedede can inhale items and projectiles, but explosive items will do some damage (about 6%). King Dedede also cannot copy other fighters' abilities like Kirby.

Up Special Move - Super Dedede Jump: The King jumps pretty high, as he always has done, then comes crashing down onto the floor (with a short range shockwave). He suffers from a little cooldown lag when he hits, however, pressing down can cancel the attack. If it is cancelled too late, or he hits a ceiling, he'll tumble about for a bit before getting back to his feet.

Side Special Move - Waddle Dee Throw (also called Waddle Dee Toss): Dedede takes a Waddle Dee out of his left sleeve and hurls it. When it lands it waddles around the arena, damaging anyone who touches it as it randomly jumps up. On rare occasions, The King will pick up a Waddle Doo, who will wander around and use its Beam after being thrown. On even rarer occasions, he will throw a Gordo, which simply goes in a low arc, bounces once, and disappears the second time it hits the ground.. The attack power of this move depends on what is thrown, with Waddle Dee being the weakest and Gordo being the strongest. The ratio that determines the frequency with which each one appears is 35:10:4 respectively. If the Waddle Dee Toss is used near a wandering Waddle Dee or Waddle Doo, King Dedede will pick it up and throw it instead of generating a new one. This is useful against other Dedede players. If you play a Slow Brawl and use this move, it is shown that Waddle Dees/Doos and Gordos are taken out of Dedede's left sleeve. Any Dedede will also throw them if the player presses Attack and a direction while standing near one. On extremely rare circumstances, he will throw a Capsule instead, even if items are turned off. Usually, the Capsule while vanish after bouncing twice.

Down Special Move - Jet Hammer: A chargeable move, Dedede can charge up the jet engine in the hammer to deliver a hit with some force similar to the hammer flip. Dedede can still move whilst charging, but the charge can't be saved by pressing the shield button. Also, charging it for too long will also hurt the King over time.

Final Smash
His Final Smash is the Waddle Dee Army. A fitting Final Smash for someone who likes to leave all the hard work for everyone else, Dedede blows a whistle and calls forth a swarm of Waddle Dees to raise a ruckus across the stage. The Waddle Dees are much faster than the ones he normally summons, so players need to watch out to make sure they do not suddenly get swept off the screen. What makes this Final Smash even more dangerous is that Waddle Doos and Gordos appear in the riot.

Misc. abilities

 * A few of his attacks, notably his Dash Attack, the Super Inhale and the Super Dedede Jump (and possibly his Forward Smash to some extent) are inspired by his attacks in the very first Kirby's Dream Land game.
 * Some of his abilities are jumping four times using his puff-up and fly ability (like Kirby).
 * He is classed as a heavyweight along with other Nintendo villains such as Bowser.
 * King Dedede carries his hammer around with him at all times, like the Ice Climbers
 * When Dedede gets a Hammer or Golden Hammer, he swings both his own hammer, and the Hammer/Golden Hammer together, alternating swings for each hammer, though his own hammer will do no damage whatsoever, especially evident if the Hammer breaks or is actually the Squeaky Golden Hammer.
 * He enters a stage on a throne being held by four Waddle Dees. Though this may be a reference to his apparent laziness, in certain cultures, (particularly in ancient times) it is said that a king/ruler should not go into battle on foot, and are thus carried to the battlefield by servants or commoners.
 * Dedede's crouch animation is different because he actually lies down. Combined with the pose he makes, some players may use it as a taunt.
 * King Dedede can chain grab most characters with his down throw. To do this, King Dedede must do the down throw, dash up and grab the character again, do another down throw, and repeat. This only works on heavy characters such as Samus.
 * Dedede was also to be made into a character for the original Super Smash Bros., but scrapped from the game due to time constraints and space limitations.

Role in Subspace Emissary
King Dedede was crucial in the capture and occupation of the Halberd by the Subspace Army. He attacks Meta Knight, unintentionally keeping the knight from repelling the Subspace Army's assault. King Dedede finds out about Tabuu's nefarious plot and the immense power of his Off Waves during the Halberd's capture. He starts worrying about the world's fate if all the heroes become trophies. No one will exist to revive the trophies, and the entire world will belong to Tabuu.

These scenes were to be incorporated into the Subspace Emissary, but were cut, presumably for time.

So he prepares a special type of brooch that fans have dubbed the Dedede Cap or Dedede Badge, though it is referred to as a Timed Badge for the cutscene. They are set to work on a timer; when the timer runs down, the brooch will restore a fighter from his or her trophy state back to their original form. All need to be done is to set the brooch on a fighter that had been turned into a trophy and leave it there. He puts the badges on Luigi's nose and Ness' shoulder. When he could not find any more with him, he realizes he has one on himself. He rather selflessly takes it off and puts it on the princess's gem. He may be posted as a hero, because he stole trophies from Wario, probably because Wario would just keep them for himself.

When King Dedede learns that Bowser and Wario have joined the Subspace Army and are turning fighters into a collection of trophies, he decides to start his own collection. He hides the fighter trophies he collects in his castle, confident the brooches will bring them back eventually just in case something goes wrong, however he ends up using the brooch he had made for himself on Peach (or Zelda), intending to make himself another one later.

The first time Dedede is shown, he uses his Waddle Dees to ambush an unsuspecting Luigi and turn him into a Trophy. It's implied that he did this so Luigi will act as bait for Wario before Dedede ambushes the latter. Then as Wario approaches on his bobsled carrying two Trophies (a princess and Ness), he tries to take the new Luigi trophy and is suddenly ambushed by a herd of Waddle Dees who throw Luigi into the sled. Dedede then steals the sled with the Trophies in tow.

Dedede is turned into a Trophy by Bowser. Bowser then steals Peach (or Zelda).

After Tabuu turns everyone into a Trophy using Off Waves, the Timed Badges go off, reviving Ness and Luigi, who in turn decide to revive Dedede. Kirby is also revived because he ate the brooch that Dedede put on one of the princesses (this cutscene was humorously called "Kirby Revived By Hunger").

Eventually, Dedede goes to the Subspace where the players fight the final boss. He revives Bowser, but the Koopa king attacks Dedede. Dedede wins the fight and revives Bowser again, telling him that they should fight the main villain instead of each other. Dedede also finds his rival, Kirby, but is actually happy to see him alive. While Dedede is walking up a staircase, Wario attacks him. However, Wario backs off when he realizes that Luigi and Ness will aid Dedede, outnumbering Wario. Dedede, Luigi and Ness then point the staircase, and Wario decides to help them fight the final boss.

Related Quotes
"Big, heavy, and mallet-toting!"

- In-game description (playable)

"A fated bout with King Dedede! What can Kirby do against his new Dedede Hammer?!"

- Pause-screen description (boss) as Masked Dedede

"The king of Dream Land! This big dude is one tough cookie. With his trusty hammer, it’s aim once, WHAM once!"

- In-game description (playable)

Trivia

 * In illustrations or cutscenes, King Dedede has one of two symbols on the back of his robe.
 * An illustration of himself giving a peace sign, used in earlier games, including Kirby's Dream Land, Kirby's Adventure and Kirby Super Star.
 * An emblem of a hand giving the same sign. This is more commonly used, but its design is slightly changed in Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land.
 * On his sprites in Kirby's Dream Land, the back of Dedede's robes originally had a white "0" outline.
 * In Kirby Super Star, it was changed to a yellow square outline, but the closeup during the Gourmet Race intro had an illustration of him giving the v-sign.
 * In Kirby's Dream Land 3, that was simplified to a yellow circle with a red image of a hand giving the same symbol (though his robes had a yellow circle with a black swirl in the intro).
 * In Kirby no Kirakira Kizzu, the circle became white and the symbol itself became yellow.
 * In subsequent games, he has consistently been given a yellow circle with the silhouetted v-sign in blue for 3D portrayals, and a bare version of the same symbol for 2D depictions (though his robes were once bare red in Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble).
 * In Kirby Air Ride, King Dedede's vehicle looks like the Wheelie Helper.
 * Although spinoffs imply he has a hatred of stars, his hammer is shown with an image of a star on it.
 * Kirby's Adventure is the only Kirby game that does not play King Dedede's battle theme when fighting him. (Though it plays a remix of the Gourmet Race theme in the remake).
 * Even though he is a boss in almost every Kirby game, he is never the main antagonist except for in Kirby's Dream Land.
 * Dedede's portrayal in Kirby: Squeak Squad most resembles his appearance in the anime. His castle as seen in the background and cutscenes also resembled how it appeared in the anime. When fighting Dedede, the machine in the background bears a resemblance to the Demon Beast delivery machine in the anime.
 * In Kirby Super Star / Kirby Super Star Ultra,
 * When fighting Dedede in Spring Breeze, Mario, Luigi, Birdo, and Toad appear in the crowd (Peach is also faintly visible, and Bowser is off-screen but part of the game data). In the DS version, Peach, Mario, Luigi, Wario, and Toad appear, while the former set still appears in Megaton Punch.
 * When fighting Dedede in Revenge of the King, the only one in the crowd is Bandana Waddle Dee, because Dedede has already sent everyone else after Kirby. King Dedede solemnly declares the ensuing fight to settle their grudge. Obviously, this is not the case in later games.
 * In Quick Draw, Dedede is the fifth and final challenger, wielding a large gun that shoots a retractable boxing glove. If Kirby is faster, the king will be dispatched by a cannon. In Samurai Kirby, he is the fourth challenger, with Meta Knight taking his previous place. King Dedede uses his trademark hammer here, though Kirby can defend against this with a party cone if he is fast enough.
 * Masked Dedede's theme is based on the theme of King Dedede in Kirby no Kirakira Kizzu, which explains why they sound so similar.
 * Despite his girth, King Dedede runs fast in Gourmet Race, as he is able to catch up with Kirby.
 * King Dedede shares Kirby's immense appetite for food. In the episode Fitness Fiend, Dedede ate enough bags of potato chips to have the bags scattered all over his throne room.
 * In Kirby's Epic Yarn, Dedede cannot use his inhale attack. This is probably because he was turned to yarn like Kirby.
 * There is a glitch in Revenge of the King. When the player defeats King Dedede in co-op wireless play, King Dedede might yell Mike Kirby's final move sound rather than the usual "NOOOOOO!" There is also a similar occurrence in Spring Breeze, in which Kirby's final Mike sound will play as opposed to the sound of its first use. It is unknown whether or not this was intended or a glitch. However, said sound was put in the soundtrack, so it was possibly intended. This glitch also occurs in the original Kirby Super Star, although still very rare.
 * King Dedede's name is translated "Roi Dadidou" in the French verisons of the Kirby series. Dadidou is a common onomatopeia to describe the sounds babies make, and roi means king.
 * The German name for this character is "König Dedede" (formerly "König Nickerchen" which means "King Nap" in German).
 * King Dedede is one of the few bosses to help Kirby. The others are Meta Knight, Landia, Bandana Waddle Dee, Dyna Blade, Daroach, and the Lor Starcutter. This does not include the anime.
 * In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Solid Snake discusses with the colonel about the hammer King Dedede carries, and how it is far too heavy for Snake to even remotely lift, despite King Dedede waddling around with it with no issue, implying King Dedede has massive strength. Whether his hammer is heavy, or if this is because his hammer is mechanical in Brawl is not said.
 * Because of his role in Subspace Emissary, King Dedede, along with Wolf, is the only one of the Nintendo Rogues gallery to not be evil in the game. He did serve the Subspace Army at one time, but left as soon as he became privy about Tabuu's true plans. This reflects Dedede's role in most Kirby games, where he is initially a foe and turns into an ally near the end of the game.
 * In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, unlike in the main Kirby series, Kirby is able to inhale King Dedede and copy his ability. This results in Kirby basically keeping his own inhale ability, but not being able to copy other foes as long as he is wearing Dedede's hat, only being able to spit them out as stars (as was the case in Kirby's Dream Land).
 * His Dedede Hammer in Kirby Super Star Ultra might be based off the fact that his hammer in Super Smash Bros. Brawl is mechanical.
 * Although his real species is unknown, it is believed that he is a penguin due to how he looks. Even in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Snake calls him a giant penguin. Even though this is not denied by the colonel informing Snake of his opponent(s), Snake will persist that Dedede is a penguin.
 * King Dedede's voice actor in the anime (as well as Escargoon's), Ted Lewis, is also known for doing a majority of the voice of another huge antagonist in a Nintendo TV show: Giovanni, the leader of Team Rocket in the Pokémon anime.
 * Dedede's iconic theme is used as the standard boss theme in Kirby Mass Attack.
 * Dedede's hat in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards is different than all other games as he has spikes on his hat rather than a sphere.
 * When making a custom emblem in Mario Kart DS, an available "template" for use is the v-sign sometimes found on the back of Dedede's robes.
 * In the Japanese version of the anime, King Dedede usually ends his sentences with "zoi".
 * King Dedede's most notable feature in Super Smash Bros. Brawl is his infinite chain grab. This has been the primary reason why many stages (such as Bridge of Eldin) have been banned in tournaments.
 * King Dedede is one of two Super Smash Bros. characters (the other being Meta Knight), to have been planned to be a playable character twice (in the first one and Melee).
 * King Dedede ranked first in Super Smash Bros. Brawl's Japanese character inclusion poll.
 * King Dedede has the fastest falling speed in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, yet paired with Zelda for having the third slowest dash speed and slowest air speed in the game.
 * In the Spanish verisons of the Kirby games, he is known as "Rey Dedede", "Rey" meaning 'king' in Spanish.
 * In Kirby's Epic Yarn, it says that King Dedede's theme is new, but it was in many games before that.
 * If you look close at the Brawl Ball sprite for King Dedede, you can see nostrils. this is not seen in any other game.