Halberd

The Battleship Halberd is Meta Knight's signature flying warship.

Appearance
In its debut (Kirby Super Star), anime, and Squeak Squad, the Halberd is known for the red glider on its bottom like ships usually have. However, in later games (Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Kirby Super Star Ultra), the glider is multiplied to two and the tip, which is the front, is replaced by a gun, and the bottom of the ship has cannons instead of the glider itself. The Halberd of Kirby Super Star, its remake, and Brawl has the same appearance of the Combo Cannon. However, in Squeak Squad and the anime, the Combo Cannon is attached on the second-to-top level of the Halberd. The Combo Cannon features firing lasers, a robotic arm, and shooting cannonballs. The Halberd of Kirby Super Star Ultra, the remake of Kirby Super Star, and Brawl has bat-like wings (in the anime and Squeak Squad version, there were rocket boosters that are wings). The wings appear by using some kind of teleportation power in Kirby Super Star and the remake, unlike in Brawl, where the wings unfold. The color of the lasers fired from the Combo Cannon in both Super Star and its remake, and Brawl are blue, while the anime version is orange (the Squeak Squad version of Combo Cannon wasn't used at all or in short all of the cannons). In Kirby's Epic Yarn, the Halberd looks mostly similar to how it appeared in later games, although there are more bat-wings decorating it and the color scheme is slightly different.

Kirby Super Star and Kirby Super Star Ultra
The Halberd appears in the sub-game Revenge of Meta Knight. Most of the game is spent on the Halberd. Kirby fights his way through the ship, defeating the crew members and damaging the ship by destroying parts of the ship like the Combo Cannon, which is a double-barrel gun-turret. Kirby eventually destroys the Halberd's Reactor, causing the ship to lose altitude. Kirby and Meta Knight face off and Meta Knight loses; Meta Knight tries to stop Kirby from escaping and fails. As Kirby escapes, the ship is seen crashing into the sea.

Halberd Crew

 * Although Meta Knight is the owner and commander of the Halberd, there is also a hawk-like figure, named Captain Vul, who appears to be some sort of second-in-command. Captain Vul thinks of his soldiers rather lowly, pummelling them with various insults. He is obsessed with destroying Kirby, though he gets in a serious panic when he learns Kirby has set the ship to crash, so he grudgingly leaves the ship.
 * A sailor-hat-clad Waddle Dee, whose role is unknown. Even after all of Meta Knight's other crew evacuate the ship, the Waddle Dee stays aboard while Meta Knight duels Kirby, though his fate after Meta Knight is defeated is unknown. It is thought that he sank with the ship. However, when Kirby escapes from the Halberd, a light is seen leaving the ship before it falls into the Secret Sea. That light was presumably Meta Knight, though the Waddle Dee might have been with him.
 * Some Ax Knights. One of them has a few lines, and participates in the evacuation.
 * Some Mace Knights. One of them has a few lines, and has, against the will of his superiors, attempted to store some food and 1ups for himself, and participates in the evacuation.
 * Some Trident Knights and Javelin Knights.

Main Cannon #2
Also known as the Combo Cannon, this key weapon is a double-barrel gun-turret that fires cannonballs from its main barrel and also fires lasers from its smaller, secondary barrel. This smaller barrel can be destroyed, to keep it from shooting any more lasers. It also features an arm that will try to grab and throw Kirby, or drop bombs (giving the Bomb ability). The arm will also try to hold Kirby in the way of the laser cannon if it is about to fire. Every other time it prepares to fire its laser, a platform will rise under Kirby to try to move him into the way of the blast (though this was changed to a low-health reaction in Ultra). When it was first destroyed, it exploded and shattered pieces of bent metal everywhere, with a strong enough force to wreck most of the top of the Halberd.

Trivia

 * In The Arena of Kirby Super Star and in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, this boss is known as the "Combo Cannon."
 * In the English version of Kirby Super Star, this was also known as the "twin cannon."
 * In the English dub of the anime, it was called the "Gravity Disruptor."
 * In the English version of Kirby Super Star Ultra, this was renamed "Main Cannon #2."
 * In Japanese, this boss is written as 2連主砲, or more directly "Main Gun 2" - which explains the translation confusion.
 * If Kirby has the Ice or Fire copy ability, he can jump above the lower cannon when the top cannon is facing backward so he can use his ice/fire breath to shut it down (Freezer Blizzard is recomended for Ice users, as it protects Kirby from the hand while damaging both cannons).

Reactor
The Halberd's Reactor is a vital part of the ship that is guarded by an auto-defence system. The Reactor was originally powered by Wheelies, evidenced in Kirby Super Star and its remake in the background during the fight, as well as their escape after the battle. The auto-defense system will fire shots from a cannon and will create pillars of fire from the floor. It will also try to fire a laser at Kirby; however, it can be tricked into firing the laser into the Reactor itself. This is actually the only way to damage the Reactor, as it's impervious to all of Kirby's attacks. In Kirby Super Star Ultra, Meta Knight's Mach Tornado move destroys all of the Reactor's health. It's known to be the second-best way to defeat the Reactor.

Kirby: Squeak Squad
The Halberd is still in the sea after the events of Revenge of Meta Knight / Meta Knightmare Ultra. Kirby uses the power of the five star seals to penetrate the border against the Secret Sea, and journeys through the sea. Eventually, Kirby makes it to the still-sunken Halberd. As Kirby gets into the interior of the Halberd, Meta Knight awaits and duels Kirby. Evidently, the airship has more than a few modifications since Kirby last saw it, as it rises into the Gamble Galaxy. After Meta Knight loses the fight, Kirby uses the Halberd to get further into the galaxy and chase Daroach. As Kirby returns home on a Warp Star, the Halberd is left unattended and presumably still fully operational by Meta Knight's hand.

Kirby's Epic Yarn
The Halberd appears in the background of the opening cutscene, but it makes its first major appearance in Kirby's Epic Yarn during the "Ambushed!" cutscene. Meta Knight is watching the strange changes in Dream Land when Yin-Yarn ambushes and kidnaps him. Battleship Halberd is later the last level of Dream Land (though optional). Kirby rides through it on his Starship, collecting beads and defeating enemies. He once again battles the Combo Cannon and the Reactor as mini-bosses. The ship can also be seen in the background of the Yin-Yarn battle, along with Castle Dedede and the other stages of Dream Land.

In the Super Smash Bros. Games
The Battleship Halberd is a location that combatants can fight on in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. This stage begins in a hangar on the high seas. The platform follows the Halberd as it departs. Eventually, you land on the ship’s deck, where combatants will also have to worry about the Combo Cannon as well as other fighters. The Combo Cannon launches bombs, fires a laser, and even attacks with its arm. The Battleship Halberd appears not only in multiplayer Brawl stages, but also plays a very important role in The Subspace Emissary. It had been hijacked by the Subspace Army and used to spread Shadow Bugs. Meta Knight regained control of it after infiltrating it with Snake and Lucario, and used it to confront the Subspace Gunship. However, in a cutscene, Halberd is destroyed by a laser beam from the gunship.

The game was originaly going to have a part about how the Emissary stole the ship from Meta Knight and other things relating to that but they decided to cut it out of the game.

One of Brawl's Events, called Pink Ball Repulsion, involves the player (playing as Meta Knight) trying to KO Kirby before the floating platform lands on the Halberd.

In Kirby: Right Back At Ya!
It appears late on in the Anime (specifically: Episode 098) to take Kirby and co. to NME. Meta Knight had been building it in secret since he arrived in Dream Land. Reason being that if anyone (more specifically Nightmare) discovered it, all would be lost.

The anime version sports a more sleek, streamlined appearance than the game version, but keeps many of the signature design features such as Meta Knight's mask, the bat-like wings and the Combo Cannon. The Combo Cannon, however, is changed to only firing lasers. It is capable of traveling using worm holes, reaching Nightmare's Fortress 900 light years away in a very short time. It's cannon's firepower can rip clear through a Destrayer, and its shield is durable enough to withstand a large amount of fire from them (a Destrayer's weapons can destroy one another in a single shot). The wings can be retracted when the situation calls for it. Its size is never specifically stated, but it's about the same size as a Destrayer, it's much larger than even Dedede's castle.

Inside are long corridors with special trolleys to make travel faster, and many rooms including a kitchen, jail, training room, and the massive engine room. The bridge is made to be run by a small crew, specifically Meta Knight, Sword Knight and Blade Knight.

Meta Knight revealed this ship in the 3rd to last episode of the series when Nightmare sent six Destrayers to attack Dreamland. Dedede and Escargoon both tried to set off a timebomb in the ship in exchange for fixing Dedede's teleporter, which was wrecked when the Destrayers attacked, but they proved unsuccessful and were locked in the Halberd's jail. The Halberd was launched and then shot down the Destrayers. Meta Knight moved near Nightmare's main space fortress, but arrived at a distance that he hoped he wouldn't be noticed at. He was unable to as Nightmare still knew he was coming and sent out Heavy Lobster to destroy the Halberd, but Kirby was able to destroy Heavy Lobster. However, the defences of Nightmare's fortress were too much even for the Halberd and looked as if it would be destroyed until a trio of Destrayers that the other Star Warriors hijacked arrived to the rescue. The Halberd entered the fortress itself and attempted to attack Nightmare who assumed the form of a giant (or a giant illusion, since it never attacked them), but it's lasers had no effect. A number of Air Ride Machines attack and nearly destroyed the heavily damaged ship until Kirby fought them off. Eventually, a trio of Destrayers managed to make it past the ones the Star Warriors hijacked and attack the Halberd. Unable to fight back anymore, Meta Knight and the others abandoned the ship, which fell into a large trench. It exploded and destroyed the Destrayers in the process.

Trivia

 * The symbol on the side of the Combo Cannon in the SNES version of Kirby Super Star was used as Meta Knight's insignia in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. However, it changed for Kirby Super Star Ultra and Kirby's Epic Yarn.
 * After it sunk in the sea, it had remained there until it was secretly repaired and remodelled some time between Super Star and Kirby: Squeak Squad. However, Meta Knightmare Ultra strangely shows the Halberd looking good as new in between appearances.
 * The anime version of the ship appears to be based on the battleship from the 1973 anime Space Battleship Yamato, sporting a similar look and even using the same sound effects for its weapons. The sound effects of those weapons used by the ship are changed and replaced in the 4Kids dub. It is assumed to be an homage to that series, as the show is known for doing such things.
 * In the anime, the Halberd flying around the surface of Nightmare's space fortress appears to homage to Star Wars: Episode IV, as it flies through a large trench on it. There are many other references to Star Wars, such as Meta Knight's saying that they were led into a trap in the English version, which is a homage to a famous line from Episode VI.
 * Strangely, the Combo Cannon's giant cannonballs can be eaten for the Yo-Yo ability. In the DS remake, this was changed to the Bomb ability.
 * The Halberd is named after a weapon of the same name. A halberd is a two-handed pole weapon that came to prominent use during the 14th and 15th centuries. The halberd consists of an axe blade topped with a spike mounted on a long shaft. It always has a hook or thorn on the back side of the axe blade for grappling mounted combatants.
 * The Halberd's name could also reference HAL Laboratory, the creators of the Kirby franchise itself.
 * In the Kirby Super Star Ultra sub-game Meta Knightmare Ultra, the player will still play Revenge of Meta Knight, despite being in control of Meta Knight, and he will still destroy the Halberd (minus the fight vs. Meta Knight). The reasons for this are completely unknown, as the only plot in Meta Knightmare Ultra is Meta Knight's quest to train himself to become the strongest warrior.
 * In the Kirby Super Star Ultra versions of the cutscenes in Revenge of Meta Knight and Meta Knightmare Ultra featuring the Halberd, the Halberd's 3D model is almost the exact same model seen in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, missing only the area where the floating platform drops down from. The original Halberd can still be seen in the bonus compilation of SNES-style videos.
 * In Kirby Super Star Ultra, the Halberd's wings are shown being formed by something that apparently relates to solarpower but in the game Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the wings unfold.
 * In Kirby: Squeak Squad, a faint outline of the submerged Halberd can be seen on the Stage Select screen of the Secret Sea. This becomes more noticeable to the player after finding the sunken airship in one of the later levels.
 * In the anime, due to the laser's extreme firepower, the Halberd can emit a powerful explosion which subsequently destroys a trench of Nightmare's fortress
 * Strangely, the Halberd can survive the fireballs of a Destrayer bigger than it. However, it got easily destroyed when 3 small Destrayers came to the Halberd's last and first flight. Maybe it's easily destroyed because the fight in Episode 98 damaged the Halberd's shield, as the red alarm was heard and seen.
 * The Halberd design changes in each appearance. It was initially relatively bulky in Kirby Super Star, but the rebuilt version in Kirby: Squeak Squad is based on the sleeker anime incarnation. Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Kirby Super Star Ultra share a brand new design, making it virtually a slimmer version of the original. The model in Kirby's Epic Yarn is decorated with more wings, but it is still closer to the newer versions.
 * In the Japanese film, Dobutso no Mouri (Translates to Animal Forest), there is a character named Halberd. Also, the film is based off of the Nintendo DS game, Animal Crossing: Wild World, where Halberd's name is Alfonso. (Strangely enough, the orgins of Wild World was a Nintendo 64 game titled Animal Forest. In 2001, the game soon became the GCN bestseller, Animal Crossing: Population, Growing!)

Halberd 戦艦ハルバード