“ | When a troubled mage stood before the mirror, Dark Taranza appeared...” |
— Quest Description • Team Kirby Clash Deluxe |
Dark Taranza is a boss in the Kirby series, debuting as the main antagonist of Team Kirby Clash Deluxe. He is the Mirror World counterpart of Taranza, created by the black mirror.
Physical Appearance[]
Dark Taranza looks similar to his counterpart, but he has features reminiscent of Queen Sectonia. His hair is curved and gold, with two purple eyes on the front and four on the back of his head. Underneath his purple eyes at the front are two red, glowing eyes. He has a brown face with a mouth containing two fangs. He has two curved purple and black horns with yellow tips. He wears a purple cape with four yellow and black vertical stripes on it with a yellow ridge at the bottom. He wears a white collar with a purple gem in the center. His body is covered in yellow and purple stripes in a similar manner to Sectonia, and his stinger-like appendage on his bottom is silver and longer. He has six disembodied hands with purple and black gloves which have white sleeves and a yellow heart on them. Upon being smashed apart by King D-Mind, his entire body gains a crystalline appearance right before shattering.
Games[]
Team Kirby Clash Deluxe[]
Story[]
After feigning his defeat in the Empyrean and summoning Parallel Susie while coming up with another plot, Taranza finally comes out of hiding. As a last resort against Team Kirby, he summons the black mirror and draws from it Dark Taranza, the embodiment of the darkness in his own heart. Team Kirby duels the evil magician, ultimately conquering him. Dark Taranza, as a last resort as well, summons the black mirror and brings forth the King of Darkness, King D-Mind. Rather than ally with Dark Taranza, however, King D-Mind betrays him and bashes him with his hammer, turning him into glass before shattering him.
After Team Kirby seals King D-Mind away in a far-off dimension and shatters the black mirror, it is revealed that Taranza was acting under the influence of the mirror for the entire game, and now that it is destroyed, he comes to his senses. Peace returns to the Dream Kingdom.
Battle[]
Dark Taranza is fought at the Decisive Battlefield in the penultimate quest of Team Kirby Clash Deluxe, called The Final Battle, which is unlocked for 180 Gem Apples. He is an Ordeal boss in the Tougher category and must be defeated before the player can access The True Final Battle. He attacks using all of Taranza's techniques and more, which are more powerful and meant to catch the player off-guard. These techniques primarily include firing magic projectiles; throwing a vast, bouncy, magical orb; firing jewels from the background; trapping the Kirbys in a net of energy; and covering himself in energy and rushing across the stage. Dark Taranza teleports frequently around the battle area to dodge attacks and assault Team Kirby from different angles.
Related Quotes[]
“ | This flask is made to resemble a puppet magician who was born from a black mirror. Creepy!” |
— Dark Taranza Flask description • Super Kirby Clash |
“ | A dark cap shaped by the darkness of a particular wizard. Looks a bit like a former owner.” |
— Dark Hataranza description • Super Kirby Clash |
Music[]
Taranza, the Master of Puppetry | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Etymology[]
Dark Taranza's name is supposed to indicate that he is a dark counterpart of Taranza, whose name is derived from tarantula.
Trivia[]
- Dark Taranza was created from the black mirror, and he has a strikingly similar appearance to that of Queen Sectonia. These reference the events of Sectonia's backstory, where the Dimension Mirror that Taranza had gifted her corrupted her into a power-hungry monarch, and then she used her magic to take over the body of her current form of which Dark Taranza is based on.
- Dark Taranza's battle theme is a remix of both "Taranza, the Master of Puppetry" and "Walking ot a Flowery Coup!".
- Like Taranza, Dark Taranza is attacked and defeated by the final boss in a single blow after failing to defeat Kirby in their respective games.
- Dark Taranza is among three of the only bosses in Team Kirby Clash Deluxe to not feature any sort of second phase.
- Colossal Waddle Dee and Colossal Kabu are the only other bosses to share this trait, though they each have two phases the first time they are fought.
- Because of this, Dark Taranza is the only boss in the Clash games to not have a "Furious" animation, since the only quest he appears in, The Final Battle, has him as the first boss as part of a "tag team", unlike Colossal Waddle Dee and Colossal Kabu, who in the former's case, is fought by itself once, and in the latter's case, is fought as the final enemy in a team.
- Dark Taranza is one of two bosses in Team Kirby Clash Deluxe to not reappear in Super Kirby Clash. The other is Colossal Waddle Dee, who was replaced with Colossal Spear Waddle Dee.