Galacta Knight

"This legend was sealed away because of his power. Now he defies time to challenge you!"

- Pause Screen description

Galacta Knight, also titled as Temporal Warrior in Kirby Star Allies, is a Final Boss in the Kirby series, debuting in Kirby Super Star Ultra. He is said to be one of the greatest warriors who ever lived. Galacta Knight serves as a hidden boss in Kirby Super Star Ultra, Kirby's Return to Dream Land, and Kirby: Planet Robobot, and makes an appearance in Kirby Star Allies. He could be considered Meta Knight's foil.

Physical Appearance
Galacta Knight is greatly similar to Meta Knight in both appearance and fighting style. He has a hot-pink body, which is slightly darker than Kirby's skin color, and has feathered, angelic, lavender wings. Originally, Galacta Knight had dark red eyes and wore whitish-platinum armor from Kirby Super Star Ultra to Kirby: Planet Robobot, but in Kirby Star Allies, he now has glowing pink eyes and wears silver armor. He wears sabatons which, unlike Meta Knight's, do not fully cover his feet, as can be more clearly seen in Kirby's Return to Dream Land and onward. He also wears pauldrons with gray lining and white gloves. Galacta Knight is roughly the same size as his counterparts, Meta Knight and Kirby, although he was somewhat bigger in his appearance in Kirby Super Star Ultra.

His mask is whitish-platinum with two curved golden horns rising up from the top of the mask. The mask also has a vertical and horizontal opening, both ending in a point. Galacta Knight initially used to have a yellow strap around his head, apparently as a means to wear his mask, much like Meta Knight had in Kirby Super Star Ultra, but this was removed in Kirby Star Allies. Galacta Knight wields a powerful pink lance with a purple handguard and golden pommel and carries a white buckler shield emblazoned with a gold, four-pointed star. The shield has a pink ring near the shield’s outer edge and solid pink, curved lines along the inner portion of the star. Notably, the star on his shield was originally shown to be pink in Kirby Super Star Ultra, but has since been consistently depicted as golden from Kirby's Return to Dream Land onward.

Personality
While he is feared for his immense power, Galacta Knight has never been stated to be explicitly evil, despite having great power and potentially being violent. However, he is not benevolent, as he will use his powers to fight anyone who challenges him when he is summoned. His intentions are generally mysterious throughout all of his appearances.

Purpose
His purpose in Meta Knightmare Ultra is simply to fight Meta Knight; he does not diverge from this request. His purpose in Kirby's Return to Dream Land is unstated, but may likely be for a similar reason. His purpose in Meta Knightmare Returns is nearly identical to his intention in Meta Knightmare Ultra, except he is summoned on Star Dream's will instead of Meta Knight's. He quickly turns on Star Dream, since it forced him to travel through space and time,  and sliced a huge scar on the mechanical monster, causing its "final program" to activate and transform it into Star Dream Soul OS, which survived the otherwise fatal slash. Why Galacta Knight does not do something similar to Galactic Nova is unexplained. However, Galacta Knight was sealed away for fear of his strength when Nova summoned him, whereas he wasn't when Star Dream summoned him through a portal linking space-time. His purpose in Guest Star ???? Star Allies Go! is unstated, but it may either be to simply fight, as it's been in previous situations, or it may be from some unknown plan by Hyness.

Kirby Super Star Ultra
In his first appearance, Galacta Knight shows up as the final boss of Meta Knightmare Ultra, and then as the penultimate boss of The True Arena (in which he fights Kirby before the match with Marx Soul). In Meta Knightmare Ultra, Meta Knight gathers the planets' stars to summon Nova and wishes to become stronger by fighting the greatest warrior in the galaxy. Nova recalls that Galacta Knight was sealed away for fear that his powers were too great, so it in turn summons Galacta Knight from his crystallized prison to do battle.

Galacta Knight's attacks are all variants of the attacks Meta Knight used when he fought Kirby in the Revenge of Meta Knight game. He can also summon alternately-colored versions of Axe Knights, Javelin Knights, Mace Knights, and Trident Knights to help him. Galacta Knight can jump off screen and dash by at high speed, much like Meta Knight. Meta Knight can do this by using Meta Quick and fly around and damage him either by slashing or by wings (Meta Knight's bat-like wings can damage while hovering). His lance can also shoot out a deadly beam whip that directs in either a clockwise or counterclockwise direction that causes damage, even while guarding. In addition, he summons tall, skinny flames from the ground. However, the player can see where the fire is about to erupt by looking at the ground. He also sends out a giant tornado or uses Mach Tornado, a move normally used by Meta Knight, although it lasts longer and it appears he has more control over it, as he can more accurately follow the opponent while spinning around, thus making it much harder to avoid. His shield also sends off a yellow energy projectile that is similar to the Cutter power, only it shoots forward and doesn't spin back. If Kirby manages to swallow this, it will give him the Sword ability. Other attacks consist of him flying and attacking the enemy with his lance. The most powerful lance move is a variation of an attack used by Meta Knight, which is a multi-jabbing attack where Galacta Knight remains motionless for a brief moment and then stabs the area directly in front of him a multitude of times with his lance, causing severe damage even when guarding. Unlike Sword Kirby's multisword attack, this attack does not cause any knockback, effectively trapping the player until the attack ends. After using an attack, he stands still for a few seconds, allowing the player to cause him some damage. As Galacta Knight's health decreases, he begins to gradually attack faster, to the point where he will attack nonstop, making the battle much more difficult.

When Galacta Knight is defeated in Meta Knightmare Ultra and The True Arena, he flickers white and flies of into space. In Meta Knightmare Ultra, a short video plays where Galacta Knight is shown flying unstably in space, then rapidly appearing in multiple parts of the screen, as if he’s somewhat “exploding.” He then appears in the middle of the screen where he is engulfed in a bright, white flash. Galacta Knights wing are torn of him while his sword and shield is shown leaving him too. In The True Arena, this is not shown.

Kirby's Return to Dream Land
In Kirby's Return to Dream Land, Galacta Knight only makes an appearance in The True Arena — specifically Round 13, as part of The Final Five. He is fought in a crystalline arena in what appears to be located within the realm of Halcandra. In this appearance, Galacta Knight is the strongest warrior in the galaxy from Another Dimension.

Galacta Knight utilizes moves yet again from Meta Knight's own repertoire of moves, all of which have their own little twist to them. Galacta Knight now possesses his own variation of the Knight Beam; he will conjure and release three Knight Beams at ground level, four at a higher elevation, and then five at the top of the screen. He may perform a more lethal version of this move by flying into the background and summoning twelve Knight Beams to rain upon the battlefield (they may shower from either the right side or the left).

Galacta Knight's Triple Slash is the same as Meta Knight's, but his Multithrust has a slight tweak; the boss will perform this if he is blocking with his shield, and the last thrust will fire off a crescent-shaped wave. His Piercing Slash is relatively the same as Meta Knight's. His Knight Spin has no horizontal momentum, but will fire an energy wave at the player(s) when it contacts the ground. His Down Thrust and his Up Thrust are the same as Meta Knight's. He also gains a Spin Slash as his charge up move, releasing an orange aura as he spins in a twister-like motion. Galacta Knight's Shuttle Loop is also tweaked, as he can bounce off the ground, leaving a star behind, before coming back around for a second dive. Galacta Knight can perform his Ground Twister by striking his lance into the ground.

When Galacta Knight is backed into a corner, many of his infamous techniques return, and he powers up his previously used attacks. His Revolution Beam makes its return, functioning similarly to its earlier incarnation. Galacta Knight's Ground Columns also return, but are much faster and no longer possess their fiery properties; he can perform this move consecutively in different positions with the appearance of lightning bolts. Lastly, Galacta Knight's Mach Tornado makes its grand reappearance, still as dangerous and accurate as before.

Kirby: Triple Deluxe
While Galacta Knight makes no physical appearance in-game, he does have minor cameos. He is seen in the audience during the "Kirby Master!" cutscene sitting in between Magolor and Marx. Galacta Knight also appears in this game as a rare keychain.

Kirby: Planet Robobot
Galacta Knight makes a reappearance as the surprise final boss of Meta Knightmare Returns, where he is summoned by Star Dream as a challenge to Meta Knight's skill, despite the danger (Star Dream's previous admin, President Haltmann, had refused to allow Star Dream to summon it) as Star Dream mentioned that Galacta Knight's power could easily destroy a planet or two, something not mentioned in previous appearances. This proves to be Star Dream's undoing as Galacta Knight slashes at Star Dream immediately after he is summoned, severely damaging the computer while causing it to sink into the ground. The battle then commences.

Unlike the fights with Queen Sectonia and Dark Matter, this is the real Galacta Knight that Meta Knight encounters, rather than being a hologram or a clone. The fight with him is also listed as "Vs. Galacta Knight Returns". The fight with Galacta Knight here is set up much like his fight in Kirby's Return to Dream Land, with two phases. The first phase uses Grand Doomer's battle theme, and the second uses a new remix of his theme music with techno elements. Galacta Knight also hovers in the battle like he did in Kirby Super Star Ultra, but comes to the ground for attacks. This means that the player can no longer crouch under any of his attacks.

Aside from the fact that he uses more electric pillars this time, he also has a few new tricks up his sleeve. He can now open a dimensional rift which a huge laser-beam comes out of in order to attack his foes. His sword beams at multiple elevations and sword beams from the background are exactly the same here. His Revolution Beam returns being the same, aside from a slight screen tilt and rumble effect near the end. However, his ground twister has a slight tweak where he fires zigzags between the background and foreground. He also recycles his first phase attacks.

Interestingly, when Galacta Knight is summoned during Meta Knightmare Returns, he exits from another dimensional rift, and when he is defeated, he is sealed within his crystal prison. When he is encountered at The True Arena by Kirby, he breaks free from his prison, and when he is defeated, he rapidly flashes white, referencing the ending of Meta Knightmare Ultra, and flies off into the background.

The damage incurred on Star Dream will later activate a hidden program in it, which will result in turning it into Star Dream Soul OS.

Kirby Star Allies
Galacta Knight appears at the end of the Guest Star ???? Star Allies Go! mode. After defeating Hyness, fake credits roll, then rewind, revealing Galacta Knight emerging through the portal Hyness made. He initially appears to be the secret final boss, but just before the battle can start, an orange butterfly shows up and lands on his lance. Galacta Knight and the butterfly then appear to merge, becoming Morpho Knight. Morpho Knight's description also mentions that Galacta Knight is the strongest warrior in the galaxy, like Meta Knight mentioned in Kirby Super Star Ultra.

In the Super Smash Bros. series
Galacta Knight makes a cameo appearance as an unlockable trophy in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U that can be unlocked by completing the reward conditions for all of the Solo Events. A color scheme for Meta Knight bears strong resemblance to Galacta Knight in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, however his body is darker, his feet are nearly black, Galaxia remains gold, and the model itself is not changed, so things like the horns and vertical slit on his mask are absent.

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Meta Knight's Galacta Knight coloration now resembles Galacta Knight's appearance greatly, making Meta Knight’s body and feet pink, putting the vertical opening in the mask as well as making the top little “spikes” gold, and turning the blade part of Galaxia pink to resemble Galacta Knight's lance. Interestingly, this Galacta Knight coloration has Meta Knight sport red eyes, much like Galacta Knight's initial appearances, rather than the pink eyes he has now. This Galacta Knight costume also appears at the end of Meta Knight's Classic Mode, in a Free-for-All alongside the Dark Meta Knight costume, likely meant to reference Meta Knight's separate rivalries with the two.

Galacta Knight also appears as a primary, legend-class shield spirit in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, using his Kirby Super Star Ultra artwork. His spirit increases sword attacks when applied to a fighter, and is not fought in a Spirit Battle, but instead summoned by cores from the spirits of Shovel Knight, Knight Man, and the Meta-Knights. At Lv. 99, it is the third-strongest spirit in the entire game with 13,345 power, only being beaten out by the spirits that serve as the rewards for beating the World of Light mode.

Canonicity
While Galacta Knight's existence may be canon, none of the events in which he has appeared in are canon, as the Meta Knightmare sub-games and The True Arenas are not canon.

Related Quotes
"My one wish is to become stronger, so I wish to fight... the greatest warrior in the galaxy!"

- Meta Knight to Nova

"The most powerful warrior in the galaxy who somehow drifted into this universe from another dimension. What a dream battle!"

- VS Galacta Knight

"With a theme song called "The Greatest Warrior in the Galaxy," you know this guy is serious business. Meta Knight does battle with him in Kirby Super Star Ultra. Also, he shows up in Kirby's Return to Dream Land, where he is the 13th boss you'll face in The True Arena."

- Trophy description

"Let us bring back a legendary swordsman from a forgotten time. He may end up destroying a nearby planet or two, but such is life. The benefits of this final battle outweigh the collateral damage. Prepare yourself... Executing Space-Time Transport... Extra-dimensional road... Booting... 3... 2... 1... BEGIN!"

- Star Dream

"This ancient swordsman is feared for his immense power. He is not a clone. He was awakened and brought here via an extra-dimensional road beyond the space-time continuum."

- VS Galacta Knight Returns

"This ancient swordsman is feared for his immense power. He is not a clone. He was awakened and brought here through an extra-dimensional road beyond the space-time continuum."

- vs Galacta Knight Returns (European Version)

"This headgear looks like a legendary warrior with powers of great destruction."

- Headgear description

In Other Languages
The meaning of Galacta Knight's name remains largely constant throughout other languages. Its German name, Ultra-Knight, is different from the English name, meaning Ultra Knight. Apart from that, however, all of its other names mean Galacta Knight; its Spanish name, its French name, its Italian name, its Japanese name, ギャラクティックナイト (Gyarakutikkunaito), and its Russian name, Галакта Рыцарь (Galakta Rytsar' ).

Trivia

 * Unlike Meta Knight, Galacta Knight hovers in the air; Kirby can thus dodge his lance slash, his lance beam, and his multistab just by ducking.
 * The video of him (#28) in the Theater is called Galactic Knight in Kirby Super Star Ultra, which is his Japanese name.
 * Despite using a lance, a weapon used for thrusting, Galacta Knight still performs slashing and chopping moves. This is because, from a gameplay perspective, he serves to be a harder version of Meta Knight (akin to Masked Dedede, Wham Bam Jewel, and Marx Soul); this is reflected in all of his appearances, where he uses the same moves Meta Knight can in the same game. This omits his multi thrust move after Kirby Super Star Ultra, which was the most effective move for his weapon type.
 * In the Kirby's Return to Dream Land "Kirby Master!" cutscene, Galacta Knight is in the audience, seen to the left of Magolor in the front row. In Kirby: Triple Deluxe, Magolor has Galacta Knight on his right and Marx to his left, in a center row further behind.
 * In Kirby's Return to Dream Land, Galacta Knight runs across the ground instead of hovering as he did in Kirby Super Star Ultra. In Kirby: Planet Robobot, he returns to constant hovering to move around the arena, but he will still run and stay on the ground for some of his attacks.
 * Galacta Knight's mask and wing also appear on a golden statue along with a Meta Knight equivalent as a Stone transformation in Kirby's Return to Dream Land.
 * When Galacta Knight's fight begins in Kirby's Return to Dream Land, like in HR-D3's second phase, Landia's battle theme is heard. After his health is halfway gone, a remixed version of his battle theme from Kirby Super Star Ultra takes over. This concept returned in Kirby: Planet Robobot, except the fight uses the battle theme of Grand Doomer like in HR-D3's first phase before his health is depleted to half, rather than Landia's. This is similar to Masked Dedede and Dark Meta Knight's Revenge in Kirby: Triple Deluxe, in which a remix of their original themes is heard during the second phase.
 * Dark Meta Knight's Pause Screen description in Kirby: Triple Deluxe describes Dark Meta Knight as the "shadow of the strongest warrior", hinting that the title has been taken from Galacta Knight. However, it should be noted that Galacta Knight has been referred to as the greatest and the most powerful, not necessarily the strongest.
 * Meta Knight's Galacta Knight coloration, along with Meta Knight's Dark Meta Knight coloration and Kirby's Final Smash, Ultra Sword, is one of the only Kirby elements in the game that was created after Masahiro Sakurai left HAL Laboratory.
 * Galacta Knight's upward slash at Star Dream is visually similar to Galaxia Darkness in the Super Smash Bros. series, aside from that he doesn't cover the area in shadow.
 * Sometimes, when Galacta Knight opens up an interdimensional rift to fire the laser, the Lor Starcutter from Kirby's Return to Dream Land may be seen in the laser.
 * In Kirby Battle Royale, scanning a Meta Knight amiibo will unlock one of Meta Knight's alternative headgear: Galacta Knight's mask and lance.
 * In Kirby Star Allies, Galacta Knight is erroneously colored blue in the Celebration Picture representing Kirby Super Star Ultra.
 * Despite not being fought in Kirby Star Allies, Galacta Knight’s full battle theme from Kirby's Return to Dream Land is still in the soundtrack.
 * In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the Galacta Knight spirit is not only the strongest Kirby series spirit, but the third-strongest spirit in the game. This is likely a reference both to Kirby's heavy influence on the Super Smash Bros. franchise, and Galacta Knight's title of "The Greatest Warrior in the Galaxy."