Meta Knight

"You have much yet to learn."

- Meta Knight

Meta Knight is a major character in the Kirby series appearing in most of the games, manga, as well as the anime. The intrigue and popularity surrounding Meta Knight within the Kirby fandom largely lies in his shrouded motives and his striking likeness to Kirby himself. Meta Knight is the leader of an army of soldiers known as the Meta-Knights, and captains a large airship called Battleship Halberd which may accompany him into the heat of battle. Although Meta Knight first appeared in Kirby's Adventure in 1993, his true name was not known in the U.S. until the game Kirby's Avalanche was released in 1995.

Physical Appearance
Meta Knight wears his trademark attire, which is his silver mask and his blue or dark purple Dimensional Cape with gold trimmings, and a pair of patched or metallic shoes. He has retractable bat-like wings and flies with them in the games. The wings' first prominent use is in Kirby Super Star, where Meta Knight chased Kirby near the end of Revenge of Meta Knight. In Kirby Air Ride, he can fly with them whenever he takes part in a race. Meta Knight's weapon of choice is usually the Galaxia Sword, which is a spiked golden sword with an embedded ruby in the hilt.

Meta Knight's most well-known trait is the fact that he is very rarely seen with his mask off. In a few games, his mask is split into two upon defeat, revealing a blue face near-identical to Kirby's with misty white eyes, a mouth, and bright pink cheeks. In the event that he is ever unmasked, he immediately departs the field of battle. His similarity to Kirby has led to speculation that he is a member of Kirby's species.

Meta Knight was originally depicted black, wearing a usually-crimson cape and without any armor besides his mask (with yellow glowing eyes in artwork). In Kirby's Avalanche, he had pauldrons, violet shoes, and a brighter skin tone. His design was revised again in Kirby Super Star. In Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land, he was made bigger than Kirby and given a yellow strap to hold his mask in place. Since Kirby Air Ride, official artwork shows his sword reflecting Galaxia's design in the anime. Since Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Meta Knight was again re-sized to Kirby's height and the yellow strap was often removed.

His pauldrons always have a yellow lining and often gray in color, but are sometimes dark blue. In Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Kirby's Return to Dream Land, his left pauldron bears a version of his insignia, which is an "M" in front of a downward-pointing sword. Meta Knight's cape is blue in all instances except Super Smash Bros. Brawl, where it is purple. The blushes on his face are almost always clearly pink, though they were toned very light in Kirby Super Star.

Meta Knight's mask apparently gives a yellowish tint to the wearer's eyes. Meta Knight's white eyes turn yellow, and Kirby's blue eyes become light green (first seen in Super Smash Bros. Brawl) when they wear it, although his eyes also change color when his emotions change in the anime. When they are blue, he feels happy or content. When they turn pink in the anime, he is amused, or something grabbed his attention. When they turn green in the anime, he is in deep thought, focused on something, or solving a problem. When they turn dark red, he is angry or possibly disturbed or suspicious. If they ever flash a mix of colors, he feels all the emotions that he is flashing.

Personality
Due to Meta Knight's way of doing things and his often-hidden intentions, the relationship between Kirby and Meta Knight is unpredictable in nature, and range from anywhere between being bitter rivals to being steadfast allies to one another and can change at a moment's notice. Meta Knight is a playable character in many spin-offs, and is presented in many of the newer games as a "friend or foe" character.

As a knight, he respects a code of chivalry, and always offers Kirby a sword whenever he fights against him. In Meta Knightmare Ultra  he is shown trying to become the greatest warrior in the galaxy, suggesting he prides himself in his strength and skill, yet wishes to continue to grow stronger.

The Revenge of Meta Knight sub-game reveals that Meta Knight abhors laziness, to the point where he was willing to start a war and take over Dream Land just to end what he perceived as a "lazy lifestyle." This is only seen in Kirby Super Star and Kirby Super Star Ultra.

Interestingly, he never seems to want his face revealed, immediately retreating when his mask is broken and falls off. The reason for this is never explained.

In the anime, his personality is much different than in the games. He is shown to passively observe events, and only interfere when needed. It is much clearer that he is on Kirby's side here. However, his training methods are often harsh and dangerous, often putting Kirby's life in danger. Unlike in the games, he does not seem to hold any opinion towards the laziness of others, and is much less mysterious, as his motives in the anime are rarely ever hidden.

In both the games and the anime, he is often seen standing on high areas, platforms in the games, tree branches and statues in the anime. This may be a strategical move to prevent being attacked before the battle or to get a better view, but the reason is never officially explained.

Dimensional Cape
Meta Knight's Dimensional Cape (as named in Super Smash Bros. Brawl) allows him to manipulate space, and is a powerful weapon in its own right. His signature cape never received its official name, until relatively recently, much like Galaxia.

Meta Knight most commonly wraps it around himself to teleport away. This tends to happen whenever his face is briefly revealed, or when he knows he has been defeated. He seems to be able to summon it at will. In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Meta Knight can also use it to ebb out of reality for a short time. In his Final Smash Attack, the cape is used to petrify his enemies and cover the surrounding area in complete darkness, leaving them open to attacks from his sword.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl and his trophy in Super Smash Bros. Melee suggested that the pair of bat-like wings which grant him flight and gliding capabilities are really an extension of the cape. This is also demonstrated in Kirby's Epic Yarn, where the cape is seen fluidly transforming into the wings in Meta Knight's yarn form. This is not consistently the case, however. In older games and in Kirby's Return to Dream Land, he is seen throwing his cape aside, revealing that his wings are underneath the cape.

Galaxia
The sword Galaxia is a solid gold blade with a ruby embedded in its hilt, with anywhere between zero to six spikes protruding from its sharp edges. In earlier games, the spikes were absent from Meta Knight's then-unnamed sword.

In the games, Galaxia is capable of shooting out sword beams and standard sword moves. In Meta Knightmare Ultra, it absorbs the energy of a defeated foe, allowing Meta Knight to use special actions like the Mach Tornado, Meta Quick and Heal.

Kirby's Adventure and Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land
Meta Knight debuted in Kirby's Adventure as a minor character and a boss. When Nightmare tries to take control of Dream Land by corrupting the Fountain of Dreams, King Dedede entrusts Meta Knight with a piece of the broken Star Rod because he knows that his powers and his followers, the Meta-Knights, would prove to be a valuable asset against Nightmare's forces. He appears again in the game's remake, Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land, with the same role, with his updated design similar to Kirby Super Star.

Throughout the game, Meta Knight sometimes helps Kirby by giving him invincibility candy (only clear in Kirby's Adventure), but also hinders his progress by summoning his foot soldiers against him. By the time Kirby reaches Orange Ocean, Meta Knight challenges Kirby personally before he can reach Rainbow Resort and later the Fountain of Dreams. Meta Knight's true intentions can only be speculated, but it appears that he wishes to prepare Kirby for his final confrontation against Nightmare.

Whenever he fights Kirby, Meta Knight always gives Kirby a sword to fight with (which Kirby must collect in order to fight him). Meta Knight attacks Kirby with his sword as well as by brute force via charging into him; Meta Knight can also block attacks which are thrown his way (becoming increasingly frequent as he loses health). Regarded as one of the most difficult bosses in Kirby's Adventure, the fight against Meta Knight was made significantly easier in the remake. Additionally, his moves are highly telegraphed and thus can be predicted and countered with enough close attention.

During the fight, it is not possible for Kirby to lose the Sword ability, and the ability he had earlier (only if Kirby takes the sword with the ability still in his immediate possession: viable discarded abilities do not count) will be restored after completing the Meta Knight boss fight stage: this is true for both the Main Game and Boss Endurance.

Achieving 100% completion in Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land in Extra Mode unlocks the Meta Knightmare sub-game. Meta Knightmare is the same as the regular game, but the player controls Meta Knight instead of Kirby. Meta Knight plays through the first seven levels and even fights another Meta Knight at the end of Orange Ocean. Due to the fact that Meta Knightmare is a sub-game, the player is unable to save throughout the adventure and must complete it in one sitting from the beginning to the end.

Kirby Super Star and Kirby Super Star Ultra
Before the release of Kirby Super Star, Meta Knight was still considered an obscure and underdeveloped character in the series. Although Meta Knight managed to make an appearance in the spin-off, Kirby's Avalanche, he missed out on Kirby's Dream Land 2. Kirby Super Star's release in 1996 features him as the antagonist with his own sub-game named Revenge of Meta Knight. This is considered to be his most well-known appearance in the series yet, which attributed to much of his popularity and subsequent appearances, which are based on this particular emergence.

Revenge of Meta Knight
In Revenge of Meta Knight, Meta Knight intends to dominate Dream Land to put an end to its lazy lifestyle. With help from the Meta-Knights, Meta Knight's ultimate weapon, the Halberd, spreads its wings and takes to the sky, but Kirby intervenes and attacks the Halberd. Kirby boards the Halberd, which infuriates Meta Knight, so he ends up blasting him down into the ocean below with the Halberd's jets. Kirby gains a Warp Star and attempts to board again, but is shot down by Combo Cannon and lands in the forest. With the help of Dyna Blade, Kirby boards the battleship once more, and destroys it piece by piece. With his crew beaten and his ship losing altitude fast, Meta Knight eventually decides to fight Kirby himself.

Again, he offers Kirby a sword, but this time the player can refuse it if they so desire by not taking it within several seconds. Doing this makes the battle longer, which is potentially dangerous due to the time limit. Meta Knight can parry attacks with his sword during the battle, and summon giant tornadoes to send Kirby up in the air and do damage. Some of his sword slash attacks can be inhaled and spat back at him.

After being defeated, he quickly departs for a rest, giving Kirby time to escape with a dutiful Wheelie that he freed earlier. Before he can do that, Meta Knight returns and flies after him, and the three escape right before the Halberd crashes into the sea below, ending the sub-game.

Meta Knightmare Ultra
Meta Knight appears in Kirby Super Star Ultra, reprising his role from the original game. He is a playable character in the Meta Knightmare Ultra sub-game, which is the equivalent of the Meta Knightmare sub-game in Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land. In the original Meta Knightmare, he goes through the levels of Kirby's Adventure, but in Meta Knightmare Ultra, he goes through each original sub-game instead (save for The Arena, Gourmet Race and sub-games). Although progress can be saved this time, the player must select "new game" to replay the sub-game after beating it.

By taking out enemies with his sword, Meta Knight accumulates points. He can spend them on four abilities activated on the touch screen. The abilities are:
 * Meta Quick: Speeds up Meta Knight and his Helper.
 * Heal: Fully heals Meta Knight and his Helper.
 * Summon Knight: Summons a Sword Knight or Blade Knight. Acts as a Helper. Sword Knight can use an upwards thrust, but Blade Knight cannot.
 * Mach Tornado: Has similar function to Crash but does slightly more damage.

There are cutscenes at the start and end of each sub-game that he plays through, and a few parts are skipped. Namely, he does not fight himself, unlike in the original Meta Knightmare. The Halberd inexplicably reappears and still ends up being destroyed, however. After completing Milky Way Wishes, he summons Nova and makes a wish to fight the greatest warrior in the Galaxy. Nova grants the wish by summoning Galacta Knight, an immaculate warrior sealed away long ago, who fights against Meta Knight as the final boss.

Meta Knight appears in the sub-game Samurai Kirby, where he is the final and most difficult opponent.

Meta Knight appears in the sub-game Helper To Hero in Kirby Super Star Ultra, but he does not offer a sword due to the fact that helpers cannot obtain abilities without Kirby.

Meta Knight appears in the sub-game Kirby on the Draw as one of the targets that Kirby must shoot to gain points. Successfully striking him will earn the player 100 points.

Kirby's Pinball Land
Meta Knight appears in Kirby's Pinball Land in the top stage of Kracko Land. He can only be found if the player has beaten King Dedede at least once. When Kirby defeats Mr. Bright, it will turn to night and Mr. Shine will appear with a wall of stars. If Kirby destroys all the stars without defeating Mr. Shine first, the sound of the microphone power-up from Kirby's Dream Land will be heard and Meta Knight will appear in the center of the stage. He does not move and cannot be hit.

Kirby's Avalanche
Meta Knight acts as the penultimate challenger in the game. His dialogue with Kirby goes as follows:

Meta Knight: "None shall pass! En garde, Kirby!"

Kirby: "But I have no Sword!?!"

Meta Knight: "Oh, you're so right... Then Avalanche it is, ha ha ha ha!!"

Kirby & The Amazing Mirror
In Kirby & The Amazing Mirror, Meta Knight senses danger in the Mirror World and rushes off to protect it. After some time, a shadowy figure resembling Meta Knight suddenly drops from the sky and splits resident hero Kirby into four separate entities (Kirby can refer to each individual or all of them collectively). Kirby follows him and the adventure begins. Meta Knight isn't seen until well into the game at level eight, Radish Ruins, where Kirby fights what appears to be Meta Knight in a duel. Unlike in previous fights where he offers Kirby a sword, this time he doesn't, and the battle begins immediately. He is more aggressive and uses stronger versions of attacks that he used in Kirby Super Star and its remake Kirby Super Star Ultra. It turns out that the Meta Knight that Kirby fought in the Ruins wasn't the real Meta Knight at all, but a copy of his dark side known as Dark Meta Knight - the real Meta Knight was sealed within the Dimension Mirror. Dark Meta Knight has a greyed-out color scheme, but otherwise has similar apparel and eye color to Meta Knight himself. ? ? ? is the name that Dark Meta Knight had when he was disguised as Meta Knight.

Dark Meta Knight later makes a reappearance as the penultimate boss. Once the Kirbys enter the Dimension Mirror, Dark Meta Knight engages them in battle once more. Right then, the real Meta Knight shows up standing on a large pillar and reveals Dark Meta Knight for the fraud that he is.

After Dark Meta Knight literally breaks into pieces, Kirby get(s) sucked into a Warp Hole which leads to Dark Mind. Meta Knight, who was watching the battle the whole time, quickly helps Kirby by throwing his sword into the Warp Hole. Kirby catches the sword and gains the Master ability. After Dark Mind is destroyed, Meta Knight drops the sword (referred to as the Master Sword) in the Central Circle, signifying the end of the game. However, since he uses his sword in other games, he might have obtained a new one or retrieved it. Within the game, he appears wielding his sword in cutscenes as well as in one of Magic's roulette options. Kirby can be seen possessing the Master ability in almost all of these situations; this means the Master ability is either Meta Knight's original sword, a previously-unknown duplicate of the original, or his aforementioned "new" sword (a copy).

Kirby: Squeak Squad
In Kirby: Squeak Squad, Meta Knight once again plays a friendlier role, although is completely misunderstood at first. Although he doesn't come into play until later in the adventure, Squeak Squad is one of his most heroic roles in the series to date.

Meta Knight appears at the end of Ice Island. After Kirby defeats Daroach and reclaims the chest presumably holding his precious Strawberry Shortcake, Meta Knight comes out of nowhere and steals it, and travels to a hidden place in or near Orange Ocean called the Secret Sea. The passageway to the Secret Sea is blocked by a door that can only be opened by collecting the five sacred Star Seals. Meta Knight is confronted as the boss of the seventh level, Secret Sea.

Shortly before the boss battle, Meta Knight reactivates the Halberd, which flies him and Kirby up into Gamble Galaxy. The Halberd is where Meta Knight is fought, and is the setting for the last few levels of Secret Sea as well as Gamble Galaxy's first level. Meta Knight himself doesn't offer a sword before the battle, but in the room before him Kirby can access a Bubble with the Sword ability inside it. The stars Meta Knight kicks up during the fight will also grant the Sword ability.

He is very offensive in this game, and attacks almost non-stop, making it difficult for Kirby to get hits in. If attacked head-on he will simply strike back instead of blocking. He employs the same attacks used in previous games, but also gains a variety of new elemental moves, such as striking his sword down to create an electrical charge around him and shooting crescents of fire across the screen. He turns around much faster than in previous games as well, making it harder to attack him from behind.

Near the end of the game, Meta Knight's intentions are finally revealed. It turns out that the chest didn't contain the shortcake, but instead the Lord of Darkness, Dark Nebula. Meta Knight was really trying to stop the spread of evil during the game, which is a possible reason for his more aggressive attack style as he was actually trying to stop Kirby rather than prepare or otherwise train him as he has done previously.

Kirby Air Ride
Meta Knight features as an unlockable racer in Kirby Air Ride. He handles with a permanent mix of Sword and Wing abilities. He is unlocked in Air Ride by gliding for 30 minutes total in air, and in Free Run by breaking open 1000 boxes in City Trial. Much like the Wagon Star, Meta Knight cannot charge or boost and has a bit of skid, and has the lowest health among all racers, but he more than makes up for his shortcomings in other areas, especially in offense and gliding ability.

One of Meta Knight's alternate colors in this game is loosely based off the colors of his sprites in Kirby Super Star and Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land.

Kirby: Canvas Curse
Meta Knight never appears story-wise in Kirby: Canvas Curse, but after unlocking King Dedede, the player can buy him in Medal Swap for 25 medals. He is very bouncy, fast, and light, but has only three Health Points. Meta Knight uses an invisible sword to take down enemies; players can hear a sound of him using it when he rolls into an enemy, as well as seeing a white slash line. Meta Knight floats in water, just like Kirby. He also appears (face only) in Paint Panic.

Kirby's Epic Yarn
Meta Knight appears in Kirby's Epic Yarn. After the player defeats King Dedede, the cutscene movie shows Meta Knight noticing strange changes in the Dream Land landscape while aboard the Halberd. Yin-Yarn ambushes him and turns him into yarn, making him the boss guarding the magic yarn of Space Land, the seventh and final piece of Patch Land. When the player fights him, he is being controlled by Yin-Yarn (via magical swords) and his eyes flicker rapidly between purple and yellow when he is not attacking.

Meta Knight does not use Galaxia this time, but has four different swords provided by Yin-Yarn. As he uses up his yarn swords, Meta Knight's attacks grow more and more severe, firing multiple sword beams, covering the screen with fire, and he can summon tornadoes when he is down to his last one. His slashing attacks can only be dodged, but he is vulnerable to attack right after. Upon getting hit, Meta Knight falls backwards, and Kirby can disarm him by using the yarn whip on the button on his sword. After being defeated, Meta Knight is freed from Yin-Yarn's possession and disappears into his cape. He reappears in the next cutscene, apologizing to Kirby for attacking, and explains the situation in Dream Land. Kirby, Prince Fluff, Meta Knight and King Dedede go to Dream Land to stop Yin-Yarn, and he does not appear again until Kirby fights Mega Yin-Yarn, where Meta Knight flies overhead and drops the Tankbot metamortex for Kirby.

Kirby Mass Attack
Meta Knight is absent from the game's main storyline, but he does appear in two of the sub-games. In the Strato Patrol EOS, he is the penultimate boss. He attacks by charging horizontally from one side of the screen to the other, going downward each time until he reaches the bottom. He can also create five illusions of himself that will fire sword beams, though the illusions can be destroyed before they attack. Meta Knight himself can also fire sword beams and transform into a tornado to hit the Kirbys.

In Kirby Quest, he appears as the final boss of Chapter 3 and as one of the last opponents in Chapter 4 (provided the player didn't unlock the fight with Galaxia). He attacks with a sword slash or a powerful tornado attack. He fights alone in Chapter 3, but is backed up by Sword Knight and Blade Knight in Chapter 4. However, Sword Knight and Blade Knight have over 2,000 less HP than their master.

Kirby's Return to Dream Land
Meta Knight is a playable character in multiplayer mode as well as in the Arena. He assists Kirby, King Dedede, and Waddle Dee in reconstructing the Lor Starcutter. Gameplay-wise, he is able to use Sword Kirby's attacks, as well as the Shuttle Loop, Hover Flap, and Dive-Bomb, moves exclusive to Wing, though the former behaving more like it did in Super Smash Bros. Brawl than it does for Wing. True to his vigilant character, he is always the first to notice something unusual in cutscenes. He is the only character in the group not to shake hands with Magolor, instead keeping his cape wrapped around himself (much like in the anime). He has two moves he has from Super Smash Bros. Brawl (as well as basic sword attacks). This shows that his Super Smash Bros. stats may have been used as his moveset so he wouldn't be exactly like Sword Kirby.

Kirby's Dream Collection: Special Edition
Meta Knight takes on his classic role in Kirby's Adventure and Kirby Super Star. Aside from the original games, his 8-bit sprite appears as a golden statue in History Hall. He also greets Kirby after the player beats the New Challenge Stages, along with other familiar faces like King Dedede and Bandana Dee.

Kirby: Triple Deluxe
Meta Knight, though not present in the story, appears in this game as one of Stone Kirby's transformations, where he turns into a statue of Bandana Waddle Dee, King Dedede, and Meta Knight. He also appears as a circus balloon, via Circus Kirby, as well as showing up in the final 100% movie in the crowd along with Galacta Knight, Magolor, Shadow Kirby, and many other characters from the game. Additionally, Kirby can adopt Meta Knight's color scheme as an optional palette swap in the Kirby Fighters sub-game.

In the Anime
In the Kirby of the Stars Pilot, which is the pilot anime of Kirby: Right Back at Ya!, Meta Knight appears as one of the enemies that appear out of the plumes of smoke when the sky turns dark. In this appearance, his mask is larger, his shoulder pads are more curled, and his gloves are smaller. Galaxia does not have its prominent points. He is defeated when Kirby spits Captain Stitch at him. This is the only time where Meta Knight is seen flying in the anime. He never flies in Kirby: Right Back at Ya!.

In Kirby: Right Back at Ya!, Meta Knight was the only known surviving member of the Star Warriors until Island of the Lost Warrior when Kit Cosmos was discovered. He settled in Dream Land and became King Dedede's servant along with his followers Sword Knight and Blade Knight, thinking that Dedede's penchant for monsters will hopefully bring a young Star Warrior to Dream Land and join forces with him to defeat Nightmare. He secretly constructs the Halberd throughout the years under Castle Dedede which requires more crew than he currently has allies, to prepare for the eventual confrontation against Nightmare, but this is not revealed until nearing the series' conclusion. He teaches the new Star Warrior Kirby, to make him strong enough to beat Nightmare one day. Compared to the games, his intentions are much clearer - he is undoubtedly on Kirby's side, though he doesn't always show it when danger looms, but this is because he wants Kirby to grow stronger and braver. Throughout the episodes, his character is given more depth, in addition to revealing his past. It is in Kirby: Right Back at Ya! where his sword was directly referred to as Galaxia for the first time.

His eyes change according to his mood. When he is proud, his eyes turn blue, as seen in Here Comes the Son. When Meta Knight's eyes are supposedly closed, his eyes turn dark orange, and when he is angry, his eyes turn red, as seen in the episode Scare Tactics - Part II and his eyes turn a shimmering green when he is suspicious or problem solving, as seen in Escargoon Squad. If he is totally serious about something, his eyes turn grass green, like seen in A Blockbuster Battle. When his eyes are pink, he is amused, shown in Snack Attack - Part I. He is extremely stealthy, observant or well-informed, since no one ever sees him unless he speaks or shows himself, and he knows the events happening around him well enough. He knows every single one of Kirby's abilities, though he was a little unsure about Mike, but still guessed correctly. It took him a while to figure out Throw, but when Kirby started throwing Whippy he was easily able to identify it.

Uncharacteristically, he likes watching Channel DDD, although whether it is because it amuses him somewhat or whether it is to try and catch out Dedede's scheming early is unknown. He also may have a sweet tooth, as he has a jar of candy in his bedroom, and seems to like tea as well, as seen in the episode "Escar-Gone".

Meta Knight makes an appearance in almost every episode, even when his only role is to explain Kirby's abilities.

Meta Knight is voiced by Atsushi Kisaichi in the Japanese version of the anime, and speaks with a smattering of random English words in his Japanese. He is voiced by Eric Stuart in the English dub for 4Kids. In the dub, Meta Knight speaks with a Spanish accent, possibly as a reference to Zorro, or to Inigo Montoya from The Princess Bride, both characters being Spanish-speaking swordsmen.

In Kirby's Duel Role, he states that he wouldn't help Kirby, yet he almost never fought him since.

In the Super Smash Bros. Series
Meta Knight is not a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Melee but appears as one of the collectible trophies. There are notable mistakes and inconsistencies regarding his description in the game. On his trophy, it states that his first appearance was in Kirby Super Star when it was actually in Kirby's Adventure, and his trophy is labelled as "Meta-Knight" (note the hyphen, which instead usually refers to members of his army). His body is depicted as silver and his cape purple when they are blue and purple in the Kirby series respectively.

Meta Knight is one of the playable fighters in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. He is fast and light, and can jump up to six times like Kirby and King Dedede can, using his wings. He can glide as well, and fights using Galaxia, which turns bright white when used. Some of his moves are based off that of his previous games. His flagship, the Halberd, appears as a stage, and plays an important role in Subspace Emissary, the game's story mode.

Meta Knight is infamous in the Smash Bros. Community due to his fast, high priority (or more accurately, non-priority) attacks, along with his ability to jump more than twice, his ability to glide and the potential for all his special moves to be used to recover from being knocked off the stage. Meta Knight is widely regarded as the most powerful character in the game due to these characteristics, and has also always been first place on the rapidly changing tier list.



Moveset
Meta Knight's attacks are among the fastest in the game, and some even pack a small punch to boot unlike most weak fast attacks; in fact, Meta Knight is one of only three characters that can perform three aerials in one short hop. His special moves are based on his attacks in the games.


 * Up throw - resembles Ninja Kirby's Air Drop.


 * Down throw - similar to Suplex Kirby's Fury stomp - performing a damaging charge while being invincible.

The Japanese version has Atsushi Kisaichi as his voice actor, as in the anime. In the English version, he is voiced by Eric Newsome. A sticker of him from Kirby: Squeak Squad and Kirby: Canvas Curse appears in this game.
 * Mach Tornado (Standard Special Move) - similar to Kirby's Tornado ability. Meta Knight whirls either left or right in a vicious tornado. Mashing the button allows him to rise up slightly and extend the duration of his attack. As this is Meta Knight's Standard Special Attack, Kirby will be able to use this when Kirby uses the "Inhale" move on Meta Knight. After spinning for about three seconds, he will launch any opponents who were caught in the tornado. If the Special Button is pressed repeatedly, Meta Knight/Kirby can hover while using this move.
 * Drill Rush (Side Special Move) - Similar to Kirby's Master ability. Drill Rush is the name of Meta Knight's Forward/Side B attack. Meta Knight leaps sideways with his blade outstretched. He performs a combination lasting up to a good 2 seconds, knocking his opponent upward, and pulls back when finished. Meta Knight can change the course of the attack, as he is shown using the same attack upward, allowing it to be used as a recovery. However, after finishing the move, if Meta Knight is off of the stage, he will not be able to recover. After completing the move, he is vulnerable for a second if on the ground, as he cannot defend himself. If in the air, he must fall to the ground before he can launch another assault.
 * Shuttle Loop (Up Special Move) - Similar to Wing Kirby's Shuttle Loop maneuver. Meta Knight launches himself up into the air, sword first. He can then use his ability to glide afterwards, making it even more like Wing. The player can tilt the direction by pressing left/right. Can be used to recover from being knocked away, and enables Meta Knight to glide. The first frame of the move as Meta Knight is rising up even has some decent knockback power.
 * Dimensional Cape/Mantle (Down Special Move) - Dimensional Cape is the name of Meta Knight's Down B attack. A defensive move, it allows Meta Knight to teleport away from danger. Holding a directional position determines where he will teleport to and pressing the attack button after teleporting allows Meta Knight to attack straight after using it. Use of this move can prove to be strategic. However, like his other three special moves, using it in the air will render him vulnerable if he doesn't hit the ground soon.
 * Galaxia Darkness (Final Smash) - His Final Smash is known as Galaxia Darkness. He swirls his cape out in a wide sweep trying to hit his opponent with it. When Meta Knight hits with the cape, the stage turns dark, says "Behold..." or "Know my power...", and then Meta Knight slices strongly through the darkness. Enemies get launched helplessly. This attack affects everyone near Meta Knight (even team members)- not just the person who is trapped in his cape. However, the person(s) trapped in the cape take the brunt of the blow. The ability will only hit enemies trapped in or nearby the cape.

Role in the Subspace Emissary
Meta Knight is first featured in The Subspace Emissary attacking a lone Marth outside of a large castle. He quickly realizes that Marth is not his enemy as they are both surrounded by Primids. After a successful battle, both warriors chase the Ancient Minister carrying a Subspace bomb. They fail to destroy the bomb, but Ike appears and he uses his Aether technique to catch the Minister off guard and destroy the bomb. With the bomb destroyed, all three head back to the castle to clear out any remaining Primids. Later, they are all seen traveling the wastelands together and battling Galleom. After defeating Galleom, Meta Knight saves Lucas and the Pokémon Trainer from a giant freefall, and begins to ascend a large cliff face, followed by the Ice Climbers (who see his ascent as a racing challenge), in order to reach the Battleship Halberd. At the summit, Lucario challenges Meta Knight to a sparring contest. After the contest, both board the Halberd which has just shaken off the defeated Great Fox.

The pair run into Solid Snake while on board and join forces with him to take back the Halberd. After rescuing Peach and Zelda, the trio continue on to the control deck. There they discover that the ship is being piloted by a gang of Shadow Bug Mr. Game & Watches who fuse together (after being knocked out of the bridge by Snake) to form a gigantic metallic monster called Duon. Once Duon is defeated, Mr. Game & Watch joins the group, along with Peach, Shiek, Fox, and Falco.

Meta Knight takes back control of the Halberd and reunites with the members from other groups. The aircraft of the other heroes are placed inside the Halberd, which heads towards the Subspace Battleship with all of the Super Smash Bros. heroes on board. After using the Subspace Battleship's main cannon to create another Subspace portal, Ganondorf spots the Halberd on the horizon and orders the battleship to open fire. The Halberd is struck down, but the heroes are able to escape on board Samus's Gunship, Captain Falcon's Falcon Flyer, Olimar's Hocotate ship, and Fox and Falco's Arwings. Kirby destroys the Subspace Battleship by ramming through it with the legendary Dragoon racing machine and the heroes enter Subspace to pursue Ganondorf and Bowser.

Meta Knight is turned into a trophy by Tabuu along with the rest of the Super Smash Bros. heroes upon their entrance into Subspace. He is later revived by Kirby and rejoins the others in the fight against Tabuu.

In production, Meta Knight's backstory revealed that the reason he did not have control of the Halberd was because he was attacked by the Subspace Army. He was able to hold them off until King Dedede attacked him, causing him to lose his ship to the enemy. This would have taken place before the events of the adventure mode proper, but the scenes could not be finished for various reasons.

In NES Remix 2
One of the game's challenges is to win the Kirby's Adventure Meta Knight battle. Meta Knight inflicts two bars of damage with each strike, so Kirby must defeat him without getting hit three times.

Related Quotes
"None shall pass! En garde, Kirby!"

- Meta Knight

"The mysterious head of the Meta-Knights, he wields his sword with dignity. He delivered his sword to Kirby and demanded single combat in a show of knightly honor; his strict adherence to his code of ethics makes him a rarity in Dream Land. Sometimes he throws off his cape in battle. It occasionally transforms into wings."

- Trophy description

"Dash for a sword attack!"

- In-game description

"Come."

- Meta Knight

"Fight me..."

- Meta Knight

"Come back when you can put up a fight."

- Meta Knight

"Victory... is my destiny."

- Meta Knight

"Unlimited power in your blade. Command your called knight. Train and journey the cosmos!"

- In-game description

"The masked knight cometh! His intense training allows him to soar through the air, swinging his sword with unrivaled speed!"

- In-game description

Trivia

 * Meta Knight is one of the few bosses to help Kirby. The others are Landia, King Dedede, Bandana Waddle Dee, Dyna Blade, Daroach, and the Lor Starcutter. This does not include the anime.
 * A trophy of Meta Knight in Super Smash Bros. Melee makes a mistake in saying that Meta Knight debuted in Kirby Super Star.
 * While his wings appeared purple in the escape sequence during Revenge of Meta Knight, his wings are blue in Meta Knightmare Ultra.
 * Meta Knight's Up Special (The Shuttle Loop) from Super Smash Bros. Brawl makes a re-appearance as one of Meta Knight's moves in Kirby's Return to Dream Land, even having a similar Button Set in order to use (Up + Special in Brawl, Down, Up + Attack [In quick succession] in Return to Dream Land.)
 * In the anime, when Meta Knight is asleep, his eyes appear dark orange. However, in the games, when Meta Knight blinks or briefly closes his eyes his visor becomes pitch black. This is true in some episodes in the anime as well.
 * However, when he closes his eyes in Kirby's Return to Dream Land (or otherwise being knocked out), there are two small yellow dashes representing his eyes, rather than his visor being blacked out.
 * 3DS_MAX_screenshot.jpg Super Smash Bros. Brawl, it can be observed that Meta Knight's visor is not pitch black. When standing in a certain way, it is possible to see blue coloring around his yellow eyes. The light does not go through his visor in a way that his actual eyes are seen, however.
 * Meta Knight's Mask makes a cameo appearance as a purchasable hat in the Nintendo 3DS built-in game StreetPass Mii Plaza.
 * In Kirby's Avalanche, his AI is used by Rulue in Puyo Puyo.

Sprites
Meta-Knight Meta Knight