Dark Matter

Dark Matter (referred to as !? in Kirby's Dream Land 2’s bad ending) is the main antagonist of Kirby's Dream Land 2, and the secondary antagonist in Kirby's Dream Land 3.

Physical Appearance
Dark Matter, after being purged from King Dedede in Dark Castle, appears as a black sphere with a single eye, as well as spiky hair. When the battle commences, Dark Matter now wears a cloak, a mask, and wields a sword. This form is dubbed Dark Matter Blade in the North American version of Kirby: Planet Robobot’s The True Arena. After being defeated, Dark Matter transforms into Real Dark Matter, a black sphere adorned with round appendages, and a single eye in the center; depending on the source, these appendages can either be purple or orange (more commonly the latter), can be eight, ten, or twelve of them, and are either petal-like or spherical.

Dark Matter has had cameo appearances across the Kirby series, but it returned in Kirby: Planet Robobot as a clone to fight.

Kirby's Dream Land 2
Dark Matter first terrorized Planet Popstar in Kirby's Dream Land 2 by stealing the Rainbow Bridges that connect the Rainbow Islands of Dream Land. Taking control of King Dedede, the sinister being hid itself away in Dark Castle, plotting a future of darkness for Dream Land. The only way Kirby can fight Dark Matter is to collect all of the Rainbow Drops and defeat King Dedede, who has fallen into an unnatural sleep. Once this is completed, the Rainbow Drops form the Rainbow Sword. Dark Matter leaves Dedede's body and flies high into the sky, and Kirby uses the Rainbow Sword to pursue it. Dark Matter first confronts Kirby as Dark Matter Blade. It attacks by dashing forward trying to stab Kirby, firing energy beams from its sword, and by launching dark energy orbs. Although Kirby can deal minor damage to Dark Matter Blade by slicing its body with the Rainbow Sword itself, Kirby can more significantly deplete its health by deflecting the energy orbs back at it. When defeated, Dark Matter Blade transforms into Real Dark Matter, and Kirby must fight it again while slowly sinking toward the planet. This time it attacks in a pattern, first releasing four of its purple appendages at Kirby twice in a row, then shooting dark beams in a circular motion twice more, then launching itself forward three times, and finally shooting two Dark Lasers from its eye three times. To ultimately defeat Real Dark Matter, Kirby has to repeatedly slash its appendages back at it during its first attack, similar to the Dark Matter Blade battle, and then damage it directly during the rest of its attacks. If Real Dark Matter is not dispatched quickly enough, Kirby will reenter the atmosphere and begin taking a single point of damage at regular intervals, eventually resulting in a life lost similar to the battle with Nightmare's orb form in Kirby's Adventure and its remake. If Kirby loses a life against Real Dark Matter, but has lives to spare, he will have to fight Dark Matter Blade again.

After its defeat, Dark Matter was obliterated. Kirby's Animal Friends and even an awakened King Dedede celebrated as their benefactor rides his Rainbow Sword through the air. With one last wave of the sword, Kirby restores the islands' rainbows and reverses Dark Matter's plans.

Kirby's Dream Land 3
In Kirby's Dream Land 3, a mysterious giant cloud breaks through the rings of Planet Popstar to get to the surface, and its long reaches possess King Dedede as well as Whispy Woods, Acro, Pon & Con and Ado far off the land. Dedede is once again bound to an unnatural sleep. Obtaining all the Heart Stars of an area will relieve that level's boss of possession upon defeat. If Kirby collects all the Heart Stars and saves all the boss characters, he will use the Love-Love Stick to reach the black cloud (optionally accompanied with Gooey), where Dark Matter will re-form and attack. Dark Matter retains its appendage attack, which is modified to have the orange orbs home in on Kirby (though they can be destroyed with the Love-Love Stick). Like the previous encounter, Dark Matter can also shoot Dark Lasers out of its eye; it will shoot a bolt of lightning in one direction, then another, then a third, and finally a fourth.

After defeating Dark Matter, it is once again banished and Kirby comes face to face with Zero, the true main antagonist.

Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards
During the battle against Adeleine, a representation of Real Dark Matter appears as one of the her paintings. Its only attacks involve dropping down orange projectiles when above Kirby, or flying around in an ellipse.

Kirby: Canvas Curse
Real Dark Matter is drawn in Paint Panic in Kirby: Canvas Curse.

Kirby: Squeak Squad
Dark Matter Blade makes a cameo along with other final bosses in a graphic, which Kirby can assemble by collecting Graphic Pieces from Treasure Chests.

Kirby Super Star Ultra
Dark Matter Blade appears in one of the cards in the Card Swipe sub-game.

Kirby Mass Attack
Years later, Dark Matter would suddenly appear in Kirby Mass Attack (albeit not in the story mode). It is the final boss of the Kirby Quest mode, and has both its Dark Matter Blade and Real Dark Matter forms. If Kirby picked up Galaxia, it is super effective to both forms, possibly in reference to its original weakness to the Rainbow Sword.

Kirby: Triple Deluxe
Dark Matter Blade from Kirby's Dream Land 2 and Real Dark Matter from Kirby's Dream Land 3 are present as rare keychains for the player to unlock.

Kirby: Planet Robobot
A clone of Dark Matter, usually referred to as Dark Matter Clone, appears to do battle against Meta Knight to test him during the Meta Knightmare Returns sub-game. The clone takes the form of Dark Matter Blade; due to Star Dream's inability to analyze the alien life-form correctly, its true form only appears inside Dark Matter's cloak and the last moment of its demise.

It will initially fight similarly to Dark Matter Blade, staying at a side of the arena, and shooting dark energy at the player. Soon, it will move to the background to fire larger energy balls, which can be launched back at it. It will occasionally also dash towards the screen with a dive attack. Once it is at half health, Dark Matter's eye will temporarily withdraw to the main body to let out a roar before changing color to red. At this stage, Dark Matter will now utilize moves from Real Dark Matter; it will first move to a side of the screen while the eye fires dark lasers around the arena. Afterwards, it will summon four orange spheres around itself which Kirby can swallow to get the Fire ability, and it will circle the arena briefly before ordering the spheres to attack the player. Dark Matter will then head to the background before performing three multi-slash attacks.

In addition to Dark Matter Clone, Dark Matter Blade from Kirby's Dream Land 2 and Real Dark Matter from Kirby's Dream Land 3 are present as rare stickers for the player to unlock.

Team Kirby Clash Deluxe
The Rarity 8 Weapon and Armor for Sword Hero are the Dark Matter Blade and Dark Matter Gear, both referencing Dark Matter Blade. Its shield is designed around Real Dark Matter.

Kirby Star Allies
Dark Matter Blade appears alongside many other final bosses in the "Bad Boss Brothers" Celebration Picture.

In Kirby of the Stars Pilot
Real Dark Matter appears in the Kirby of the Stars Pilot as one of the enemies created out of the plumes of smoke when the sky went dark. Kirby freezes it with the Ice ability after he inhales the Ice Dragon.

In the Super Smash Bros. series
Dark Matter Blade appears as a primary, Legend-class attack Spirit, occupying three slots for Support Spirits in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. It sports no effect when applied to a fighter, but also has one of the highest power levels in the game.

Its Spirit Battle is a stamina battle against King Dedede in his black and white coloration, before fighting Meta Knight in his navy blue coloration, referencing the battle with Dedede followed by Dark Matter Blade in Kirby's Dream Land 2. 0²'s battle theme plays, and the battle is fought on the Halberd stage's Ω form, while Nightmare frequently appears to obstruct the player's vision, both likely referencing the darkness theme. King Dedede and Meta Knight can also randomly get critical hits, and their weapons have increased strength.

Related Quotes
"Creating this dark swordsman pushed Star Dream to the limits of its abilities. The cloning process was a success, but only a partial data analysis was possible, and its true form has not yet emerged."

- Vs. Dark Matter Clone

"A blade said to be wielded by a dark swordsman who, lurking in shadow, plots to shroud the world in darkness."

- Weapon Description

"Armor that borrows its appearance from the dark swordsman with a single eye. It is said that isn't hair but part of his body."

- Armor Description

Canonicity
Dark Matter's appearances in Kirby's Dream Land 2, and Kirby's Dream Land 3 are canon. Its appearance in Kirby Mass Attack’s Kirby Quest sub-game is non-canon, as it is not part of the main story. Meta Knight's battle against its clone in Meta Knightmare Returns is also non-canon, however, Star Dream's data analysis of it is ambiguous; it is possible that it just wasn't used to fight anyone, and as Star Dream was defeated, that information that would be used to create the clone would probably disappear with it. Star Dream's data on Dark Matter may indicate there are still traces of the entity left somewhere out there

Its appearance in the pilot is also non-canon, as the pilot is not directly connected to the anime series, Kirby: Right Back at Ya!

Trivia

 * The amount of appendages Dark Matter has is inconsistent with its appearances. Its Kirby's Dream Land 2 sprite has ten (only eight are shown in its Kirby's Dream Land 2 artwork due to the side view); its Kirby's Dream Land 3 sprite always has eight (even in side view), as does Ado's artwork, however, the official artwork for its Kirby's Dream Land 3 appearance gives it ten; in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, it lacks any appendages, however, Adeleine's drawing gives it eight; its appearance in Kirby of the Stars Pilot gives it twelve appendages; its appearance in Kirby Mass Attack also has twelve appendages, but in different positions than they were in the pilot; its appearance in Kirby: Planet Robobot has eight appendages; its appearance in Team Kirby Clash Deluxe as the shield when wearing the Dark Matter gear depicts it with eight appendages.
 * A Japanese Kirby encyclopedia by the name of 最新星のカービィ大百科 Saishin Hoshi no Kābyi Ōhyakka ("The Latest Kirby of the Stars Large Encyclopedia") states that Dark Matter targeted Planet Popstar because it grew jealous of Dream Land's lifestyle and suffered from loneliness due to the fact no one wanted to be its friend.
 * This information has since been repeated in the January 2019 issue of the Nintendo Dream magazine.
 * Dark Matter Blade has a laser attack with the same sound as Laser Ball from Kirby's Adventure.
 * Dark Matter appears capable of altering its form so it is suited to whatever task it must carry out. This is first seen when Kirby first confronts Dark Matter in Kirby's Dream Land 2, where it assumed the form of a masked swordsman, presumably to combat against the overwhelming strength of the Rainbow Sword. In subsequent appearances except Kirby Mass Attack and cameos of the swordsman form, it would only possess others to combat Kirby or fight in its natural state.
 * Dark Mind's second and final forms resemble Dark Matter.
 * For a split second during its transformation (and during its attacks) in Kirby Mass Attack, its orbs are purple like its debut appearance.
 * Concept artwork seems to suggest that Real Dark Matter was considered as a playable character in Kirby: Canvas Curse.
 * A heavily remixed version of Dark Matter's theme from Kirby's Dream Land 3 is used as one of the tunes during the first phase of Magolor's theme in Kirby's Return to Dream Land.
 * "Reproduction of Darkness," the theme that plays during the battle against Dark Matter Clone in Kirby: Planet Robobot, is a remix of Dark Matter's themes in Kirby's Dream Land 2, starting with Real Dark Matter, followed by Dark Matter Blade's theme.
 * The Dark Matter Clone in Kirby: Planet Robobot can turn its sword into something similar to the Rainbow Sword to attack, ironically, as the Rainbow Sword is the original Dark Matter's weakness.
 * According to a HAL Laboratory Miiverse post, this is because the Dark Matter can materialize its memories.
 * The cutscene before the battle against Dark Matter Clone is also called "The Dark Rainbow Thief".
 * In Kirby: Planet Robobot, Dark Matter Clone is referred to as Dark Matter Blade in The True Arena's rest area. In Japanese, both its name in battle and in the rest area is 「クローン剣士ダークマター」, meaning "Clone Swordsman Dark Matter."
 * Additionally, in the European English version, its name remains "Dark Matter Clone" both in battle and in the True Arena's rest area.
 * When activating the portal for the Dark Matter Clone, Star Dream reveals the clone is filed as Sword_Master.exe.
 * The official strategy guide for Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards by Prima Games, Adeleine's Dark Matter painting is erroneously called mutant Mumbies.
 * The clone fight in Kirby: Planet Robobot reveals that the Rainbow Sword is not the only weapon capable of reflecting the dark energy balls Dark Matter Swordsman fires, as Meta Knight's sword, Galaxia can also do so. Additionally, in The True Arena, any of Kirby's attacks, even the basic slide kick and Air Gun, can reflect the dark energy. This may be because the clone was imperfect.
 * Dark Matter is the sixth-strongest Kirby series Spirit usable by the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, with 10,089 power at max level. It is only beaten by Nightmare Wizard's 12,671, Dyna Blade's 11,203, Marx (True Form)'s 10,886, Dark Daroach's 10,897, and Galacta Knight's 13,345.
 * Dark Matter has the second highest power when fought as a Spirit Battle, only after the Dragoon.