Helper to Hero

Kirby Super Star Ultra screenshot
Helper to Hero
Name (JA)	ヘルパーマスターへの道 (Herupāmasutā e no michi)
- Meaning	means "Road to Helper Master"

Helper to Hero is a mode in Kirby Super Star Ultra that allows the player to play as any of the twenty Helpers in the game (including Sword Knight, and excluding the Starship helper). The chosen Helper must go through a rigorous test- it must defeat 13 bosses and finally Wham Bam Jewel, who appears after defeating Wham Bam Rock, but without returning to the resting area. Unlike other boss medleys in the game, the battles actually follow a specific order throughout the entire arena.

Beating Helper to Hero with all helpers places a ribbon on the mode selection and bottom screen of the Helper to Hero title screen, and unlocks movie 00, which consists of cutscenes from the original Super Star. Although beating the mode with all helpers unlocks the final cutscene in the game, it is only necessary to beat it with only one of the helpers to get a full completion of the file.

Helper to Hero is unlocked after getting past thirteen bosses or more in The Arena.

Playable Characters

All Helpers. Helpers have alternate color palettes unique to Helper to Hero

• Knuckle Joe
• Parasol Waddle Dee
• Chilly
• Blade Knight
• Simirror
• Sir Kibble
• Plasma Wisp
• Waddle Doo
• Poppy Bros. Jr.
• Gim
• Birdon
• Bio Spark
• Bonkers
• Burning Leo
• Capsule J2
• Bugzzy
• Tac
• Wheelie
• Rocky
• Sword Knight

Bosses

• Whispy Woods
• Mid-Boss All Stars 1 (Chef Kawasaki, Bonkers, Bugzzy)
• Kracko
• King Dedede
• Dyna Blade
• Fatty Whale
• Chameleo Arm
• Mid-Boss All Stars 2 (Poppy Bros. Sr., Mr. Frosty, Iron Mam, Jukid)
• Twin Woods
• Heavy Lobster
• Computer Virus (Magician, Evil Knight, Great Dragon)
• Meta Knight
• Wham Bam Rock
• Wham Bam Jewel (fought immediately after Wham Bam Rock)

When the player defeats a boss, the rest area is immediately accessed. The helper is seen under a tent with a path to the colosseum and a sunset in the background. Upon reaching Wham Bam Rock, the rest area turns to night and the music that plays is the Dyna Blade's mountain stage before the fight with Dyna Blade. There are only three Maxim Tomatoes in the rest area. Upon taking one, the next time the player enters that room, a regular tomato will take its place. Once taken, it will not reappear.

Trivia

Screen shown when Helper to Hero is cleared with all 20 helpers

• It is heavily implied that the game doubts the Helper's ability to succeed in its rigorous test. Words of discouragement rather than encouragement appear when a Helper is defeated by a boss, similarly to the messages displayed in The True Arena. The Computer Virus boss also refers to any chosen Helper as "the Helper" in general, implying that the status of a Helper is so obscure that they get no name recognition. It also does not close its windows immediately, unlike in The Arena. After being defeated by the helper, it instead incredulously states "The Helper defeated all the enemies!" before retreating, as if doubting its own loss.
• The bosses Combo Cannon, Marx, Bandana Waddle Dee, Lololo and Lalala, and Reactor are all omitted, possibly because they aren't fought twice in the original sub-games (excluding appearances in The Arena). Galactic Nova Nucleus is taken out because only the Starship can fight it. Inversely, King Dedede, Meta Knight, and Dyna Blade are only fought once in the original sub-games.
• For some reason, Wham Bam Rock isn't counted as a boss and is called "???." Unlike the four "???"s in The True Arena (which are Masked Dedede, Wham Bam Jewel, Galacta Knight, and Marx Soul), the identity of Wham Bam Rock is not revealed even when the Helper fights against it.
• The Starship helper is the only helper that is not playable in Helper to Hero.
• During a two-player challenge, Wheelie Bike cannot be ridden by another of its kind. This is probably because Kirby gets the Wheelie Rider ability when ridden, while Helpers stick to one ability.
• Plasma Wisp and Tac have extra moves which are unavailable to Kirby when using their respective abilities.
• Unlike The Arena and The True Arena, the players must fight the bosses in a set order each time they play.

Gallery

Two Birdons about to fight Whispy Woods