Mecha Knight

"The sword fighter from Popstar who single-handedly took on the army of Haltmann Works Co. He was defeated and turned into a cyborg soldier who's been programmed to attack Kirby."

- VS Mecha Knight

Mecha Knight is a recurring boss in Kirby: Planet Robobot. As the name suggests, he is none other than a mechanized version of Meta Knight, acting as Susie's personal security guard in her conflicts with Kirby.

Physical Appearance
Mecha Knight appears as an exaggerated, high-tech version of Meta Knight. His mask has a similar shape to his normal self's mask, but with added blue markings and a round pink lens at the center of the visor. The lens seems to move around the visor during certain animations. A blocky pink and grey antenna protrudes from the left side of the mask, which presumably aids the Haltmann Works Company in controlling Mecha Knight - the moment the mask is destroyed, Meta Knight breaks free of their control.

Mecha Knight's pauldrons are far larger than his normal self's, in order to accommodate a pair of large missile launchers on each shoulder. His wings appear as mechanical versions of Meta Knight's, with the addition of thrusters to increase his mobility. He holds a golden device that can project a fiery pink energy blade shaped like that of Galaxia.

Between his wings, a ring-like structure sits on Mecha Knight's back, with five red-and-black plates attached to it. In the second battle with the boss, a multi-jointed mechanical arm emerges from the structure, with the plates acting as clawed fingers for grappling and punching attacks.

Alternate forms
As Mecha Knight+, the blue parts of the cyborg knight's armor were repainted red and pink to match his newly-accessible third arm.

Stock Mecha Knight's entire body is various shades of black and grey, save for his lens and antenna tip, which both remain pink. His energy sword also has a blue blade instead of a pink one.

History
When the Haltmann Works Company first descended on Dream Land, Meta Knight attempted to fight them off from the helm of the Halberd. Unfortunately, the invaders' technology proved far superior, and the battleship was downed after a single blast from the Access Ark. Following his defeat, Meta Knight was captured and mechanized by the HWC to serve as a powerful enforcer.

The newly-minted Mecha Knight first appeared as the boss of Gigabyte Grounds, summoned by Susie to defeat Kirby before he could cause any more damage to the HWC's plans. Despite an impressive showing, Mecha Knight was unable to defeat the pink warrior, falling from the platform to his apparent explosive doom. In truth, however, the mechanized menace survived the fall with his brainwashing intact, allowing Susie to retrieve him for repairs and upgrades.

Mecha Knight returned in the center of the Access Ark, with a red paint job and the designation of Mecha Knight+. Susie deployed him against Kirby when the latter reached the office of the HWC's president. Despite his new upgrades - including a massive third arm on his back - he was defeated by Kirby once again. This time, his cybernetic mask exploded off of his face, returning Meta Knight to his senses. He promptly flew away and found a way to remove the rest of the HWC's modifications from himself - by the time he reappeared at the helm of the Halberd, he had returned to his normal appearance.

Despite the failures of Mecha Knight, his design seemed to prove popular with the HWC. By the time of Meta Knightmare Returns, the company had developed a mass-produced version called Stock Mecha Knight, which incorporated elements from both forms of the original model. One unit was deployed against Meta Knight, but the original masked warrior was able to destroy it.

Mecha Knight
Mecha Knight opens his first battle by leaping into the air and thrusting his sword downward, leaving stars when he impacts the ground. Mecha Knight then guards, preventing all damage for a brief moment. Then, Mecha Knight spins his sword in a fan-like motion, then finishes off by firing a beam from it straight forward, leaving two stars when the attack concludes. After that, Mecha Knight re-positions by gliding across the stage before leaping into the air and firing two missiles from his shoulders. These can be inhaled and spat back.

When Mecha Knight is knocked down to half health, he intensifies his attacks, using new weapons and techniques. He starts by flying into the background, and charges a large electric field around himself, which will hurt Kirby if he gets too close. He leaves stars as he approaches Kirby. After repositioning himself on the field and guarding for a moment, Mecha Knight leaps into the air, then fires four missiles from his launchers - these can be inhaled and spat back. Then, landing in the center of the stage, Mecha Knight charges up and fires several large lasers from his eyepiece. Each one leaves a star behind. Mecha Knight then flies off the stage, and causes debris to fall on Kirby in waves. The larger pieces leave stars on impact.

Mecha Knight+
In his first battle, Mecha Knight+ supercharges his sword to make it huge, then swipes three times at Kirby, leaving a star with each swipe. Mecha Knight+ then leaps into the air, flies into the background, then dives into the ground, leaving two stars on impact. He also does a spin slash which releases all the charge in the sword making it go back to normal.

When Mecha Knight+ is knocked down to half health, he flies into the background. The apparatus on his back extends into a giant clawed tail, and he resumes fighting. Mecha Knight+ charges, then smashes his claw tail into the ground, leaving two stars on impact. Mecha Knight+'s claw tail then delivers a rapid series of punches, finishing with a punch into the wall that leaves two stars. Then, Mecha Knight+ grounds its claw tail, then lifts himself into the air. From there, he starts firing beams from his sword at Kirby. The beams leave stars on impact. While in turret form, Mecha Knight+ then hops into the air, and lands somewhere else. After a few rounds of this, he retracts his tail, leaps to the middle of the stage, and fires beams from his lens similarly to his first battle.

Related Quotes
"After being turned into scrap metal, Mecha Knight has received a major upgrade. Is there any way to restore him to his former glory?"

- VS Mecha Knight+ "This mass-production model is based on an upgraded Mecha Knight model. If this model goes into commercial production, the company's military power will dramatically increase."

- VS Stock Mecha Knight

Trivia

 * Due to the sheer size of his shoulder armor, Mecha Knight's wings clip through his shoulders in some of his animations.
 * The music that plays during the battle against Mecha Knight+ is a remix of Meta Knight's boss theme from Kirby Super Star's Revenge of Meta Knight sub-game. The song itself is named "Mecha Knightmare" on the OST, referencing the recurring Meta Knightmare subgame.
 * Mecha Knight has a different defeat animation for every version fought:
 * His original form simply stumbles off the platform he fought Kirby on and explodes offscreen.
 * Mecha Knight+ has his tail explode, blowing him into the air and shattering his mask when he lands. He immediately turns away and rockets offscreen. If Mecha Knight+ was defeated while his tail was retracted, his defeat animation has an added sequence where he summons the appendage and makes a final attempt to attack Kirby before it freezes mid-move and explodes as normal.
 * Stock Mecha Knight has similar defeat animations to Mecha Knight+, but his entire body explodes shortly after his tail is destroyed.