Kracko

Kracko is a recurring boss character from the Kirby series. He has, in one form or another, appeared as a boss in every Kirby platformer to date, with the exception of Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards and Kirby's Return to Dream Land.

Kracko is most often fought in his iconic full form that closely resembles a puffy cumulus cloud, but is sometimes encountered in his premature form, known as Kracko Jr.. Kracko appears to have legions of monsters (usually similarly cycloptic creatures) supporting him, such as Waddle Doo and Flamer, both of which he has been known to summon to his side in various fights. Kracko is often fought high up in the clouds, as he draws clouds around his eye to form a body. The manual from Kirby's Dream Land describes Kracko as a "lightning fast foe."

Physical Appearance
Kracko is a puffy, cloud-like monster. He has a large single eye located in the center of his soft, cloudy body. In almost all depictions of Kracko, the top of his cloud is a light blue, and his bottom is a light pink. This may be a reference to the fact that differently electrically charged water droplets fall to different hemispheres of a cloud (this is the cause of lightning). The midsection of Kracko's body is white. Surrounding the perimeter of the cloud are 10-16 golden spikes (usually 12). This design remains consistent in his anime appearance.

Kracko Jr. is Kracko's premature form. Kracko rarely fights in this form, and is mainly shown whenever Kracko enters the arena, only to be replaced by his adult form shortly after. In the rare instances when he actually battles, Kracko Jr. is usually a mid-boss. In this form he has the same blue eye as his regular form, but it doesn't have the cloud surrounding it. Instead, four round, white blobs orbit around his eye. Sometimes these globules have a slight pink or blue tint on them.

Kirby's Dream Land
Kirby's Dream Land was Kracko's first appearance. Kracko is fought twice in Bubbly Clouds, once as a mid-boss, Kracko Jr., and then again as the stage's boss. The first battle takes place in the middle of the stage and Kracko is in his premature form. The second time Kracko fights in his true form. Kracko Jr. attacks by summoning Waddle Doos, crashing into Kirby, and shoots up four bullet-like projectiles into the air which descend to the ground, and usually into Kirby. Once defeated, Kracko Jr.'s eye flies off the screen and is not encountered until the end of the stage. As the full Kracko, his attacks range from dropping Waddle Doos, crashing into Kirby, and emitting a blast of twinkling stars from his body. Defeating Kracko gives Kirby access to the final stage, Mt. Dedede.

In the Extra Game, both fights become much harder. Kracko Jr. follows a very distinct pattern which is extremely hard to avoid, while Kracko is just the opposite. Kracko's attacks are easy to avoid but are very unpredictable. Kracko Jr. first attacks by shooting out his 'bullets', then follows up by bouncing around the arena, swoops around the arena, and then finishes the pattern by dropping bombs. Nearly all these attacks can be dodged by standing in the bottom corners. The second fight is almost the same, but is now unpredictable and the Waddle Doos are replaced with bombs.

Kirby's Adventure and Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land
Kracko is the boss of Grape Garden in this game and in its remake.

Before the actual fight ensues, Kirby starts off on a long cloud with a Starman approaching him, and Kracko Jr. looming overhead. Kirby must go up a series of clouds to reach the actual arena (Hi-Jump is recommended), and Kracko Jr. destroys the platforms that Kirby stands on, which could cause him to fall to his demise far below. After reaching the top cloud, Kracko Jr. transforms into his full form, and Kirby is now forced to actually fight. Kracko has the same attacks he had in Kirby's Dream Land, but now summons Starmen and doesn't use his bullet move or his star attack.

This was the first game that Kracko Jr. is fought during the same battle as Kracko. This also marks one of the few games that he appears in where he does not serve as a mid-boss.

Kirby's Pinball Land
Kracko is the boss of the aptly named Kracko Land in this game. At the beginning of the battle, Kracko appears as Kracko Jr. In this premature form, he floats around the pinball table in a figure eight pattern and occasionally rushes at Kirby. After four hits, he transforms into Kracko. The boss now attacks by releasing Flappers into the area to follow Kirby. He also shoots lightning to briefly paralyze one flipper.

Kirby's Dream Land 2
Kracko is the boss of Level 6, Cloudy Park.

Perhaps the most unorthodox Kracko fight in the series, Kracko is first fought as an eyeball sticking out of the cloud Kirby is standing on. In this form he attacks by shooting a small beam from his eye and advances towards Kirby. Occasionally, Kracko floats up from the platform in the form of Kracko Jr. and flies about the arena shooting out Co-Krackos (simply smaller versions of Kracko with only four spikes). He can also shoot the four round blobs surrounding his body at Kirby in the form of a large projectile. When the blast lands on the floor a cataclysmic explosion occurs. After Kirby lands enough hits, Kracko Jr. explodes and his eye rolls across the cloud. Then, Kracko Jr. flies back up and builds himself up to his true form. In his full form, Kracko retains his star attack used in Kirby's Dream Land, but he is now concentrated in the form of a thin laser which is aimed at Kirby. Also, the Waddle Doos in this fight are replaced with Co-Krackos and can be sent out in two ways: One from Kracko's bottom or two from Kracko's top.

Kirby's Avalanche
Kracko is seen in this game as the 11th boss in the Avalanche Tournament, following Mr. Shine & Mr. Bright and preceding Meta Knight. His dialogue with Kirby is below.


 * Kracko: KRRR- RACKK!!!! "Dance to my deadly music, or fry like a moth! HA HA!!"
 * Kirby: "You couldn't hit a barn sized lightning rod, Kracko!"

Kirby's Block Ball
Kracko serves as the boss of Kracko's stage. Kracko Jr. floats up and down in the upper-middle portion of the Target Shooting Area; hitting him four times causes him to flee and a Warp Star to descend from the ceiling. Touching him takes Kirby to the boss.

During the boss fight, Kracko Jr. flies around the stage in a figure eight. After four hits, he converts into Kracko. He floats back and forth, occasionally shooting lightning at the top and bottom of the screen. These lightning bolts shrink the paddles if they make contact. Like all normal bosses in the game, Kracko/Kracko Jr. has 12 HP.

Kirby Super Star and Kirby Super Star Ultra
In Kirby Super Star, Kracko is showcased in some of the sub-games. First, both of Kracko's forms appear in the sub-game Spring Breeze, a simplified "mini-remake" of Kirby's Dream Land. In Spring Breeze, Kracko once again serves as the boss (and mid-boss) in Bubbly Clouds. Kracko has all of his attacks from Kirby's Dream Land but now has a new rainstorm attack, where he showers Kirby with heavy rain. Kracko reappears in The Arena alongside the rest of the game's bosses (except Kracko Jr).

In Milky Way Wishes, Kracko appears once more, guarding the planet Skyhigh's Fountain of Dreams. He behaves the same way he did in Spring Breeze, although the player doesn't fight Kracko Jr. beforehand.

In Kirby Super Star Ultra, Kracko's sprite is greatly updated to match his sprite in Kirby: Canvas Curse; now he has more animations and displays anger when attacking. In Milky Way Wishes and Helper to Hero (where he serves as the third boss), Kracko gets an alternate color palette, with his body now light blue and his spikes orange. Kracko also gets a new defeat animation, where his cloudy body begins to disappear, leaving only his eye, which promptly explodes. In Gourmet Race, Kracko can also be seen in the map of the stage, another detail that was not in the original Kirby Super Star.

In a new sub-game, Revenge of the King, Kracko and Kracko Jr. return as Kracko's Revenge and Kracko Jr.'s Revenge respectively. Kracko's Revenge and Kracko Jr.'s are upgraded versions of their standard counterparts, each attacking more frequently and erratically.

Kracko Jr. has four dark purple orbs circling around his single, menacing, red cat-like eye. His eyelid is a deep violet.

Kracko's body is now dark purple instead of white and has a menacing cat-like red eye. His eyelid is a deep violet and his is spikes are gray with black stripes.

Kracko's Revenge is faster than Kracko, the star beam attack reaches farther and is more powerful, he can move laterally while performing the rainstorm attack, and has a new attack added to his arsenal. After dropping a Waddle Doo after the lightning attack, he will shoots lasers at different angles. He will start vertically, then horizontally, and then the two diagonals. He grants 80000 points upon defeat. Kracko Jr.'s Revenge does not have any new attacks, instead, being faster and more aggressive. He will commonly race across the edges of the screen and can drop five bombs instead of the typical three. He grants 25100 points upon defeat.

Kirby's Dream Land 3
Though Kracko himself doesn't really appear in this game, a painting of him is drawn by Ado at the end of Cloudy Park. This painting attacks in the same manner as the real boss, such as sending dangerous plumes of lightning at the ground, and even spawns Co-Krackos much like he did in Kirby's Dream Land 2.

Kracko is the last drawing made by Ado, and thus has the most amount of health and is arguably the hardest to defeat. After this drawing is defeated, Ado steps onto the battlefield to fight Kirby herself.

Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble
Kracko is the boss of stages 3-4 and 6-4. Kracko attacks primarily by quickly moving from side to side. Making the battle harder, Kracko also leaves a trail of Gordos in his wake. Co-Krackos also make another appearance in order to make the battle more difficult.

When facing him in World 6-4, Kracko has a new attack added to his arsenal: A lightning blast (which is fairly accurate) that is aimed downwards. To defeat Kracko, the player must first grab a Balloon and shoot puffs of air at him. Kracko moves faster after each hit, which means the player needs to have very good aim to win.

Besides the final boss (King Dedede), the only other bosses in the game are Orbservors, which are, coincidentally, also rounded one-eyed creatures.

Kirby Air Ride
Kracko appears, but this time not as a boss, but as an item. Instead Kracko can be summoned by a player in Top Ride mode by picking him up as an item, which resembles an eye surrounded by eight golden spikes. However, the item does not commonly appear due to its potential power.

When picked up, the screen darkens and Kracko forms. He flies around until he locks onto a random player (other than the one who summoned him). Upon doing so, he stops above the target and zaps him/her with a powerful bolt of lightning. Once he attacks the other players (usually up to three times) with lightning barrages, he flies away and the screen returns to normal.

Kirby & The Amazing Mirror
Kracko is, surprisingly, the boss of Mustard Mountain and serves as the third boss in the game. This is currently the only time Kracko isn't fought in a cloudy environment in any game (excluding Holo-Kracko in Kirby: Planet Robobot). However, Kracko is fought at the top of a mountain, so he is still at a high altitude. Beating him gives Kirby the third Mirror Shard.

Although Kracko's sprite comes directly from Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land, Kracko has the same attacks as he did in Kirby Super Star, ranging from his star beam to his rainstorm attack. In addition to summoning Waddle Doos, Kracko may also summon Twisters and Flamers during the battle. These can be swallowed for abilities or used as ammo against Kracko.

Kracko Jr. also appears in the game, but is only as a design-element, and is not a component of the battle in any way; Kracko Jr. comes onto the screen for a brief second or two and then morphs directly into the regular Kracko, beginning the battle. While Kracko Jr.'s sprite came from Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land, his globules are blue instead of pink.

Kracko is also the only boss in Kirby & The Amazing Mirror who appears in another game (not counting Meta Knight because he is not a boss in this game), and is not a Mirror World counterpart of another boss or a new boss altogether.

Kirby: Canvas Curse
Kracko appears in his own sub-game titled Block Attack. He first appears as Kracko Jr. then will battle in his normal form the next time Kirby fights him.

After Kirby clears the obstacles that Kracko Jr. throws at him during the previous stages, Kracko Jr. initiates a fight with Kirby. The only way to damage Kracko Jr. is to hit him in the eye while the orbs around him are not spinning. Likewise, Kracko must be damaged in the same manner, but his clouds must be cleared beforehand.

The Kracko fought in this game is a fake Kracko created by Drawcia, like the replicas of King Dedede and Paint Roller.

Kirby: Squeak Squad
Although Kracko doesn't truly appear in Kirby: Squeak Squad, Doc appears as the boss of Cushy Clouds, and uses a mech that is made in the likeness of Kracko himself. During the fight, he will do the ground sweep and summon Waddle Doos, Starmen, and Waddle Dees. After the player defeats him, he will revive and do the same attacks, as well as creating an electric field, and lastly destroying and recreating the cloudy platforms.

This machine has four large, copper spikes protruding from each corner of his body, a green eye, and a cloak of gray, stormy clouds.

Kirby Epic Yarn
Kracko (transformed into yarn by Yin-Yarn) appears in yarn-form as a sort of boss of Cloud Palace. He first appears halfway through the stage, and chases Kirby attempting to zap him with his trademark lightning bolt attack. Shortly after, Kracko stops chasing after him, and isn't seen until later on in the stage.

Later, after Kirby boards the Star Shooter, he begins to encounter swarms of Co-Krackos, foreshadowing Kracko's return. Sure enough, just as Kirby enters the homestretch, Kracko appears. Kirby simply must shoot Kracko enough times to defeat him. He attacks by generating Co-Krackos and covering himself in an aura of lightning and charging across the screen.

After he is shot enough times, Kracko shrinks, and now uses his old star beam attack. After being damaged even more, he shrinks once more and only requires just a few more shots to be destroyed completely.

A relative of Kracko also appears in the Outer Rings stage called Space Kracko.

Kirby Mass Attack
Kracko and his Jr. form appear in the Strato Patrol EOS sub-game of Kirby Mass Attack as bosses.

Kirby: Triple Deluxe
Kracko appears as the boss of Old Odyssey, the third world in the game, albeit with minor changes to his appearance: the spikes surrounding his cloud body are now brass and gold instead of the regular yellow. Additionally the spikes are striped like Kracko's Revenge. Kracko will also change color when preforming different attacks, such as turning dark grey when using electric attacks or turning dark blue when using his rain shower attack. Kracko will comically shed a single tear every time he is hit. The ensuing battle with Kracko is much more involved than in previous games, with many new attacks being added to his repertoire. The first half of the fight with Kracko is just like fighting him in Kirby Super Star and Kirby Super Star Ultra. Kracko attacks by dropping Waddle Doos, moving around erratically, twirling star beams, raining, and even moving across the platform while shooting a lightning bolt on the ground.

When Kracko's health is depleted to the halfway point, he gets enraged (shown by his eye turning red), descends into the background and turns himself into a tornado to blow away the clouds in the background, thus uncovering three smaller platforms in the background. Kirby can then alternate between these two zones by a cannon that Kracko shakes out. After Kracko's body returns, he will push out two giant golden electric drills from his sides and move to a side of the screen. Flying is the easiest way to avoid the attack. Kracko will plow through the planes from the left and right. Occasionally, Kracko will swoop down from high above with the drills or get on Kirby's height level before plowing through. The attack leaves a bunch of stars that Kirby can use. When Kracko's body spreads out over one of the zones, Kirby must immediately get in the cannon before it disappears and switch planes to avoid a massive lightning storm that causes dangerous amounts of damage if not successful. The evil cloud can shoot a ray of blue energy balls that moves left and right. Rarely, Kracko generates a huge energy ball and throws it to the opposite plane. Upon the ball hitting the ground, it splits into four smaller ones, two on the left and two on the right. Two of them move in a wide arc as the other two move in a higher arc. The balls leave stars for Kirby to take advantage of. Kracko can shoot lightning from his body horizontally, vertically, and even diagonal in both ways, an attack that Kracko's Revenge used in Revenge of the King in Kirby Super Star Ultra.

Upon Kracko's defeat, his cloudy aura dissipates and explodes, sending bits of random junk flying everywhere. His eye floats to the center of the stage and gets hit by a cog, causing him to release one last tear before exploding (however in The Arena, his eye also explodes with junk flying off).

Kracko later returns as an impediment in Stage 2 of Royal Road. Notably, a rare keychain is found during the Kracko battle at Royal Road.

Dededetour
Kracko (known now as Kracko DX), has a pale light green body, eight blue and orange striped spikes, and a couple of horns of the same color. When Kracko DX's eye turns red halfway through the battle, the spikes turn dark and dull shades of gray.

In the first half of the battle, Kracko DX's lightning bolt attack has him change direction when he gets to the other side of the screen. When spitting out Waddle Doos, he spits out other pieces of junk, like barrels. He moves from side to side during his rainstorm attack (like Kracko's Revenge), the golden star beam attack is done twice in a row, Kracko DX shoots lightning horizontally, vertically, and even diagonal in the both ways, an attack that Kracko used in the second of the fight in Story Mode.

When Kracko DX is beaten down to half of his full health bar, he blows away the clouds in the background, like Kracko. Kracko DX uses his energy ball attack, but these orbs are green and they sweep across the ground going left, right, and a last sweep going towards the middle from both sides. When Kracko DX pushes out his golden drills, he will attempt to ram into Dedede from the background to the foreground using his drills, from the sides, Kracko DX bounces up and down, and finishes the attack by plowing into the foreground while rotating. His deadly lightning storm leaves the ground sparking for several seconds. The same thing happens to the ground after Kracko DX launches his giant energy ball the splits into four.

Upon Kracko DX's defeat, he explodes the same way his normal mode counterpart did.

Kirby Fighters and Kirby Fighters Deluxe
Additionally, Kracko appears as a stage hazard in one of the stages in Kirby Fighters. The stage Bubbly Clouds is based on Kracko's arena in Kirby Super Star Ultra ' s Spring Breeze (this is also the case for Lololo and Lalala and King Dedede). Kracko moves around the arena, and occasionally uses his attacks from Kirby Super Star. Kracko cannot be defeated, and serves only as a hazard.

Kracko also appears in Kirby Fighters Deluxe. Upon clearing four rounds, the player will be given a Kirby partner that uses the same ability the player is currently using, and the duo will be plunged into a battle with Kracko. Kracko acts as he does in the first phase of his battle in Kirby: Triple Deluxe, and also gains new attacks involving his large drills. On higher difficulty levels, Kracko will attack faster and more erratically, and the Waddle Doos he drops will walk faster as well. Kracko explodes upon his defeat.

If fought on Very Hard mode, one can see the word "HAL" printed on the stage's floor tiles.

Kirby: Planet Robobot
In Kirby: Planet Robobot, a holographic version of Kracko, Holo-Kracko, appears as the first of four bosses summoned by the Holo Defense API.

In Kirby: Right Back at Ya!
"Sorry, your majesty, but our contract says that Kracko can't be sent backo! HA HA!!"

- NME Salesman

Kracko is one of the first few monsters ordered by King Dedede. He stars in the episode Dark and Stormy Knight, where he invades Cappy Town and makes the sky dark and cloudy, and the weather stormy.

Because of his immense size, Kracko couldn't be sent to the King via the transporter in his castle. Instead, Kracko appeared in Cappy Town along a violent storm front. Kracko spends most of his time surrounded by the stormy gray clouds over Cappy Town sending down powerful green lighting bolts. Kirby, using his Warp Star and by inhaling the clouds surrounding Kracko, is able to face the monster. Kracko attacks with lightning bolts generated from his spikes, which knock Kirby out. When the Warp Star saves Kirby, Kracko combines several lightning bolts to form a lightning sword, which chases him. Kirby inhales the sword and gains the Sword ability, then cuts Kracko in half using 5 Sword Beams, destroying the monster and putting an end to the short-lived storm plaguing Dream Land. Kracko is probably the biggest challenge Kirby had to fight, because he put up a fight even when Kirby got his sword and survived 4 sword beams, and Kirby had more experience in later episodes, as opposed to Kracko being in the 4th episode out of 100.

Kracko was the first of the few full-scale bosses in the series, except Nightmare himself, to make an appearance as a monster in the anime. The next would be sixteen episodes later, when Ice Dragon was introduced. The only other bosses to appear were Paint Roller and Heavy Lobster, all of which were encountered in the last quarter of the series (Heavy Lobster making an appearance in the penultimate episode).

In the Super Smash Bros. series
Kracko appears as a trophy in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Etymology
Kracko's is derived from the onomatopoeic word "krackle", which with the sound produced by thunder.

Other Quotes
"KRRR-RACKK!!!! Dance to my deadly music, or fry like a moth! HA HA!!"

- Kracko

Related Quotes
"The only way to damage Kracko is to gulp up the enemy he spits out and then spit it back at him."

- Description

"Kracko's back! He's beefed up, too! Kirby should use the same battle tactics as before, but now he needs to watch out for Kracko's swooping attacks. Jump over Kracko when he swoops down."

- Description

"Touch Kirby's clone to clear the Gordo and then enter Kracko's domain. Remember the previous battles with Kracko and stick with the exact same game plan."

- Description

"If one of Kracko's beams hits Kirby, you lose a tomato. Help Kirby destroy Kracko by using Spark powers."

- Instruction manual description

"A well-known boss from the Kirby series. Kracko is a cloud with a big eye and numerous spikes. He threatens Kirby with a number of weapons, including beam and rain attacks. In Kirby Super Star, Kracko first appears as Kracko Jr., continuing his onslaught on Kirby as he grows in size."

- Trophy description

"It seems Kracko has made Floralia part of its territory. It's being fed by a mysterious power source, so its attacks are stronger than ever before!"

- VS Kracko

"Kirby has defeated Kracko countless times, but as long as the clouds still hang in the sky, Kracko will never give up the fight!"

- VS Kracko DX

"In a battlefield full of Kirby fighters, here comes an imposing challenger! Watch out for his view-blocking attacks! Fight as a team to knock him out as quickly as you can! It's a Time-Attack Boss Battle!"

- VS Kracko

"This hologram was created by analyzing data of the cloud monster who is believed to have inhabited the sky of this planet since ancient times. It excels at electrical attacks charged by the atmosphere."

- Vs. Holo-Kracko

"They further analyzed the data of the cloud monster and discovered even more vicious attacks. The system redesign has implemented these attacks and made Holo-Kracko even more powerful."

- Vs. Holo-Kracko 2.0

Trivia

 * In Kirby's Avalanche, Kracko's AI is used by Minotaur in Puyo Puyo.
 * The Pause Screen description for Kracko DX in Kirby: Triple Deluxe suggests that Kracko cannot be permanently destroyed; he can always reform as long as there are clouds to use for his body.
 * The Pause Screen description for Kracko in Kirby Fighters Deluxe on Very Hard mode suggests he also takes Kirby's victories personally and seeks revenge on Kirby for his past defeats.
 * In Kirby: Triple Deluxe, Kracko's rainstorm attack will not damage Kirby if he is using the Parasol ability.
 * Kracko's Revenge and Kracko Jr.'s Revenge are, ironically, the opposites of their Kirby's Dream Land Extra Mode counterparts. In the original, Kracko was unpredictable while Kracko Jr. followed a distinct pattern. However, as stated above, Kracko's Revenge follows a distinct pattern while Kracko Jr. is unpredictable.
 * The Pause Screen description for Holo-Kracko in Kirby: Planet Robobot suggests that Kracko possibly inhabited the sky of Pop Star since ancient times.
 * Holo-Kracko 2.0 in Kirby: Planet Robobot bears strong resemblance to Kracko's Revenge from Kirby Super Star Ultra. Presumably this is due to the Mother Computer Star Dream managing to uncover Kracko's Revenge in its data on Kracko.
 * The VS Kracko description in Kirby: Triple Deluxe refers to Kracko using gender-neutral pronouns despite the fact that all other sources, released before and after the game, describe the boss using masculine pronouns. The only exception to this is Holo-Kracko, a nonliving hologram.
 * In Team Kirby Clash Deluxe, Kracko drops various objects when attacking. These include apples, barrels, shields from Sword Hero armor, Gabon skulls, and spike balls. The spike balls appear to be the ammunition used by Royal Road Lollipop Tanks in Kirby: Triple Deluxe, only shrunken down.
 * Miasmoros spits several of these same objects in its battle.

Sprites
Kracko Kracko Крако Kracko Kracko クラッコ