President Haltmann

"Well...allow me to elaborate. In compliance with the business plan drafted by Star Dream...effective today, you are...terminated!"

- President Haltmann

President Haltmann (full name Max Profitt Haltmann) is a character in the Kirby series that serves as the primary antagonist of Kirby: Planet Robobot and CEO of the Haltmann Works Company.

Physical Appearance
President Haltmann is fairly large and egg-shaped, with pale skin as well as disembodied hands and feet. He has solid cyan eyes, a prominent brow, purple hair, and a mustache. He wears a dark indigo suit with a maroon tie and a pink collar. He also sports a small golden radio piece on the side of his head and a set of lilac gloves. His gloves and body are adorned with gold-encrusted rubies.

President Haltmann's Executive suit is a gold mech with lilac and red gems encrusted within and indigo designs at the wrists. It also has a pink jewel on the bottom. His 2.0 Executive suit has a stripe of black going around near the top and on the wrists with all of its gems white rather than lilac or red.

When not piloting his mech, President Haltmann sits on his hovering golden chair, which allows him to move.

Story
Before the events of Kirby: Planet Robobot, President Haltmann discovered blueprints during his travels for Star Dream, a powerful wish-granting supercomputer. He conducted numerous tests while rebuilding the machine. During one of these experiments, however, his daughter - Susanna - was unintentionally warped to Another Dimension, and the man fell into a deep depression. Believing his daughter had passed away, Haltmann focused on modifying Star Dream to be the most powerful machine in existence, with the hope that he could revive his daughter and see her once again. In the process, Haltmann even went as far to abandon his own emotions and memories, which were steadily devoured by Star Dream's flawed control helmet.

Haltmann grew to completely trust Star Dream. His desire changed to eternal prosperity of his own company, and he became a cold-hearted man who did not trust anybody; even when Susie eventually returned, Haltmann no longer recognized her as his daughter. He ran the proposed invasion plan to Star Dream, as he thought that it was the most efficient way for his company to achieve prosperity.

The Haltmann Works Company eventually arrives on Pop Star with the Access Ark, and immediately begins harvesting its resources. During the process, the Access Ark shoots down the Halberd, and demolishes King Dedede's Castle. Meta Knight is captured and made into a mechanical weapon, whilst King Dedede's DNA is acquired to create clones of him. Kirby - who had slept through the entire attack - wakes up in time to see the world around him getting mechanized, resulting in his setting out on a quest to stop Haltmann.

Eventually, Kirby reaches the top of the Access Ark and is confronted by Susie, a high-ranking employee of the company whom he had already confronted several times before. Susie soon activates an upgraded form of Mecha Knight, dubbed Mecha Knight+, and pits it against Kirby, resulting in a battle that ends in Mecha Knight's defeat and his release from Susie's control. Just as Susie is about to confront Kirby herself, however, Haltmann reveals himself to Kirby, dismisses Susie, and fights him in his own mech. However, Kirby prevails in the ensuing battle, causing Haltmann to fly into a blind rage.

Determined to defeat Kirby and exterminate everyone else on Popstar who is interfering with his plans, Haltmann docks with Star Dream, which by now is the mother computer that manages the company's entire system. However, before Haltmann can use the machine, Susie snatches the control device of Star Dream from him. Star Dream promptly turns on Haltmann, fuses with his soul, and blasts Susie, knocking her unconscious. Through Haltmann's now comatose body, Star Dream declares that all organic life-forms are obstacles in the way of Haltmann's wish for eternal prosperity of his company. Star Dream then flies into space to destroy all organic life. Kirby and Meta Knight fight Star Dream with the Robobot Armor in Halberd Mode, and are eventually victorious, seemingly destroying both Star Dream and what remained of Haltmann.

At some point after fusing with Haltmann, Star Dream deemed its master's soul to be unnecessary for its continued functioning and begins to erase it. By the time Star Dream is attacked by Galacta Knight and becomes Star Dream Soul OS as a result, only a little of Haltmann's soul is left. Just before Haltmann's soul is completely erased, Haltmann finally recalls his real desire to see his daughter one final time and regrets that he ever reactivated Star Dream. Haltmann appears to meet his demise while Kirby is fighting Star Dream Soul OS's heart; at this point, Star Dream has been reduced to a "cold, mindless machine", devoid of its original purpose and bent only on mindless destruction. Star Dream Soul OS is permanently deactivated by Kirby shortly thereafter.

Battle
The battle with President Max Profitt Haltmann occurs immediately after defeating Mecha Knight+ in Stage 6 of Access Ark. If Kirby is defeated by Haltmann, he will be able to skip the battle with Mecha Knight+ upon reentering the boss door.

In the battle, Haltmann launches his four (six when fighting the 2.0 variant) Susie-shaped drones, which home in on Kirby and leave stars on impact. He then attaches to the central platform, and spins repeatedly around it, leaving two stars when the attack concludes.

Upon losing 1/5 of his health, he lowers the central column in the battlefield, changing the arena into a straightforward one. Haltmann rises into the air, and summons a Haltmann Vehicle to deal with Kirby. During this time, he is practically invulnerable to Kirby's attacks. The enemy leaves a star whenever it punches. After it blows up, President Haltmann comes down, charges up, then performs a spin dash across around the circumference of the stage several times, then plows straight through the middle. He does this several times, occasionally leaving stars behind. Then he jumps into the air, hovers for a moment, then fires the ruby attached to the bottom of his mech on the ground, leaving a fire where it hits. This attack repeats several times.

When Haltmann is down to half health, he smashes a hole in the middle of the arena, making it circular again. The president fires a multitude of drones, which bombard the arena going one by one in a large circle. Haltmann then fires a multitude of Haltmann bills with his image on them into the air, which partially obscure the screen, then follows up on this by doing a spin dash around the arena, occasionally jumping across the hole and leaving stars on impact. Afterwards, Haltmann performs a series of bounces across the arena, leaving stars wherever he lands. Lastly, he summons two minions into the arena, where like before, he takes minimal damage while they are active.

When Haltmann is down to 1/5 of his health, he conjures a large square platform to appear in the middle of the arena, and conjures holes in it. He summons two Haltmann Vehicles into the arena (again, taking minimal damage during this time), jumps into the cube, and causes it to fire two large beams from two of the holes opposite of each other, then two more from the other two, and all four after turning the cube. Haltmann then fires his mech like a drill through the cube, which causes him to warp after firing. After that, he fires a multitude of drones, which bombard the arena in a large wave.

Once Haltmann is defeated, he attempts to pilot his mech further, but it short-circuits and explodes on him, leaving him helpless in his chair as singed Haltmann bills rain down on him.

Meta Knightmare Returns
President Haltmann appears in his 2.0 form in Meta Knightmare Returns.

Quotes
""Why did I reactivate such a terrible machine? Oh, I remember--I wanted to see her one last time. How foolish! I should have known no machine could make such a dream come true.""

- Vs. Star Dream Soul OS (Second and Third phase)

""You ungrateful native! You need to be taught your place! Savages! Savages! Savages! SAVAGES! You're all wild savages! Your insolence must be punished! Watch me activate Star Dream, the most powerful machine in existence. And you filthy natives will be... eradicated!""

- After his initial defeat

Related Quotes
"-The Noble Haltmann- Noble Haltmann, we adore him Kingly lord of time and space! Every day we wish him glory, Gazing on his noble face!"

- Vs. President Haltmann

"His full name is Max Profitt Haltmann. Ever since losing his only child, he's dedicated his life to his company. However, his only wish is to see his daughter once again."

- Vs. President Haltmann 2.0

Etymology
His full name, Max Profitt Haltmann, is a pun on "Max(imum) Profit," as Haltmann is a CEO and he focuses on churning out the highest profit possible. His surname is likely based on "Hartmann" and/or "Hultman." It also conceals a reference to HAL Laboratory.

His Japanese name is "Gaines Incamus Haltmann," which is a pun on "Gains Income."

Trivia

 * The pause description during President Haltmann's battle is the lyrics of the Haltmann Works Company's theme song, "The Noble Haltmann."
 * In his regular boss fight, the bills Haltmann uses to obscure the screen contain his image. During his 2.0 fight, he will use bills with Susie's image.
 * Haltmann's voice actor is Mugihito, also known for his portrayal of Sigma, the regular final boss of the Mega Man X series.
 * Haltmann's voice is similar to Susie's in that he has a normal human voice but with a bitcrushing filter over it, making it sound slightly computerized. The noises his dialogue text makes as it appears on screen consist entirely of noises sounding similar to a modem dialup.
 * According to the Pause Screen description of Dedede Clone 2.0, Haltmann's battle mech is known as his "Executive Suit," and it is made of solid gold. It is the most expensive creation the Haltmann Works Company has manufactured.
 * During the first half of the fight against the Star Dream Soul OS's heart, whenever a sphere inside a column has been destroyed, a pained cry resembling Haltmann's voice can be heard. This implies that Kirby destroyed what little of Haltmann remained in the machine, as the pause menu for the second half of the fight reveals that Star Dream has succeeded in destroying every last trace of Haltmann.
 * By looking through various bio cards of both President Haltmann and Susie (2.0 as well), a story behind the main plot can be revealed.
 * One of these is that Haltmann and his daughter, who was named Susanna, initially worked together to reactivate Star Dream. However, an accident happened causing Susanna to vanish into another dimension. It is unclear what this accident was, however it is implied heavily that Haltmann thought she was dead. The helmet used to control Star Dream caused him to lose his memories bit by bit, so when Susie came back, he somewhat recognized her, but did not realize she was his daughter anymore.
 * Though he tried to bring Susanna back to life with Star Dream, it proved to be a fruitless effort. This is most likely due to her not actually having died.
 * In Stage 1 of Access Ark, portraits and statues of Haltmann are plastered all throughout the stage, similar to pictures of Queen Sectonia are scattered around Stage 1 of Royal Road.
 * The Haltmann's design is based on one of the unused designs for Magolor who had an early design that had a mustache which resembles the same one that the Haltmann's had.
 * Sir Ebrum, a character from Kirby: Right Back at Ya!, shares a somewhat similar design with Haltmann.