Kracko

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

Kracko is a recurring boss character from the Kirby series. It has, in one form or another, appeared as a boss in every Kirby platformer to date, with the exception of Kirby 64. It first appeared as a boss in Kirby's Dream Land and has appeared in almost every game since then. Kracko is most often fought in its full form, but is sometimes fought in its premature form, known as Kracko Jr., before Kracko in its full form is encountered. Kracko appears to have legions of monsters, usually one-eyed creatures, supporting it, such as Waddle Doo and Flamer, both of which it summons to its side in various fights. Kracko is often fought high up in the clouds. The manual from Kirby's Dream Land describes Kracko as a "lightning fast foe".

Physical Appearance
Kracko is a puffy cloud-like monster. It has a large single eye located in the center of its soft, cloudy body. In almost all depictions of Kracko, the top of its cloud is a light blue, and its bottom is a light pink. 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 its 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 its adult form shortly after. In the rare instances when he actually battles, Kracko Jr. is usually a miniboss. In this form it has the same blue eye as its regular form, except it doesn't have the cloud surrounding it. Instead, four round blobs orbit around its eye. Sometimes these globules have a slight pink or blue tint on them. In most cases, its only attacks are moving around like crazy and producing Waddle Doos and Bombs.

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

In the Extra Game, the two 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 bullets, then follows up by bouncing around the arena, and then finishes the pattern by dropping bombs. 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.

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 it's full form, and Kirby is now forced to actually fight. It has the same attacks it had in Kirby's Dream Land, but now summons Starmen (instead of Waddle Doos) and doesn't use its bullet move or its 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 it appears in and does not serve as a mini-boss.

Kirby's Pinball Land
Kracko is the boss of the third stage. At first it is Kracko Jr., but when it gets hurt enough times it becomes Kracko. when it is Kracko it can zap one of the flippers to make it freeze for a few seconds.

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 it attacks by shooting a small beam from its 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 small versions of Kracko with only four spikes). It can also shoot the four round blobs surrounding its 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 its eye rolls across the cloud. Then, Kracko Jr. files back up and builds itself up to its full form. In its full form, Kracko retains its star attack used in Kirby's Dream Land, but it is now concentrated in the form of a thin laser which is aimed at Kirby.

Kirby Super Star and Kirby Super Star Ultra
In Kirby Super Star, Kracko is showcased in most 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 mini-boss) in Bubbly Clouds. Kracko has all of its attacks from Kirby's Dream Land but now has a new rainstorm attack, where it showers Kirby with heavy raindrops. Kracko also appears alongside the rest of the game's bosses in The Arena.

In Milky Way Wishes, Kracko appears once more, guarding the planet Skyhigh's Fountain of Dreams. It behaves the same way it 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 it's sprite in Kirby: Canvas Curse; now having more animations and displaying anger when attacking. In addition to appearing in the subgames it did in the original, Kracko and Kracko Jr. both make an appearance in Revenge of the King and The True Arena as Kracko's Revenge and Kracko Jr.'s Revenge, respectively. In Milky Way Wishes and Helper to Hero (where it serves as the third boss), Kracko gets an alternate color palette, with its body now light blue and its spikes orange. Kracko also gets a new defeat animation, where its cloudy body begins to disappear, leaving only its 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.

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

Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble
Kracko is the boss of worlds 3-4 and 6-4. Kracko attacks primarily by quickly moving from side to side. Making the battle harder, Kracko also leaves leaves a trail of Gordos in his wake. Co-Krackos, miniature fodder versions of Kracko from past games, also appear to make the battle harder

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

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

Kirby and 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. However, Kracko is fought at the top of a mountain, so it's still in a high altitude. Beating it gives Kirby the third Mirror Shard.

Although Kracko's sprite comes directly from Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land, its attacks are almost completely different from said game. Instead, Kracko has the same attacks as it did in Kirby Super Star, ranging from its star beam to its 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.

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

Kirby Air Ride
Kracko appears, but this time not as a boss. Instead Kracko can be summoned by a player in Top Ride mode by picking it 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. It will fly around until it locks onto a random player (other than the one who summoned it). Upon doing so, it stops above the unfortunate target and zaps them with a powerful bolt of lightning. Once it attacks the other players (usually up to three times) with lightning barrages, it flies away and the screen goes back to normal.

Kirby Canvas Curse
Kracko appears in his own subgame 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. will initiate 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 vaporized 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
Main article: Mecha Kracko

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 you defeat 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 its 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. It first appears halfway through the level, and chases Kirby attempting to zap him with its trademark lightning bolt attack. Shortly after, Kracko stops chasing after him, and isn't seen until later on in the level.

Later, after Kirby boards the Star Shooter, he begins to encounter swarms of Co-Krackos, forshadowing Kracko's return, sure enough, just as Kirby enters the homestretch, Kracko appears. Kirby simply must shoot Kracko enough times to defeat it. It attacks by generating Co-Krackos and covering itself in an aura of Lightning and charging across the screen.

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

It also appears in Outer Rings as Space Kracko.

In the Anime
"Sorry, your majesty, but our contract says that Kracko can't be sent backo! HA HA!!"

- NME Sales guy

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

Because of its 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 its time surrounded by the stormy gray clouds over Cappy Town sending down powerful green lighting bolts. Using his Warp Star and by inhaling the clouds surrounding Kracko, Kirby is able to face the monster. Kracko attacks with lightning bolts generated from its 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 it 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 Demon Beast in the anime. The next would be sixteen episodes later, when Ice Dragon was introduced. The only other two bosses to appear were Paint Roller and Heavy Lobster, both of which were encountered in the last quarter of the series (Heavy Lobster making an appearence in the penultimate episode).