The Ice Dragon is a portly, bipedal dinosaur-like monster who appears as a recurring boss and foe to Kirby. It is worth noting that of its five appearances in the series, only two of them is in the flesh, while the other three are merely facsimiles. In all appearances Ice Dragon has made, it uses an array of ice moves to attack Kirby.
Although not directly appearing in Kirby Super Star Ultra, a card of Ice Dragon appears in the sub-game Card Swipe. Additionally, Ice Dragon appears as a collectible keychain in Kirby: Triple Deluxe, using his sprite from Kirby's Dream Land 2.
Games
Kirby's Dream Land 2
Ice Dragon in Kirby's Dream Land 2.
In this game, Ice Dragon serves as the boss of Iceberg, the fourth level of the game. It is fought inside a frozen cave. Because of this, the ground is slippery and Kirby must carefully watch his footing in order not to slide around.
Ice Dragon attacks by breathing a frosty breath of ice at Kirby, flinging chunks of ice at him, crashing into the ground, and causing icicles to fall from the ceiling. The icicles can be inhaled and used against it, although they give no Copy Ability.
This was the only game in which Ice Dragon physically appeared until Team Kirby Clash Deluxe was released 2 decades later. In the two subsequent games following Kirby's Dream Land 2, Ice Dragon only appears as a sketch created by Ado and later by Adeleine. He then appears as a hologram created by Holo Defense API in Kirby: Planet Robobot.
Kirby's Dream Land 3
Ado's Ice Dragon
In this game, Ado draws it as part of her boss crew alongside Sweet Stuff, Mr. Shine & Mr. Bright, and Kracko. It is the first monster that Ado draws. The simplified Ice Dragon attacks by throwing icy blocks at Kirby as well as spewing its icy breath at him. Being only a drawing, Ice Dragon has a significantly reduced health bar, being beaten in only a few hits.
Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards
Adeleine and her Ice Dragon drawing.
Ice Dragon once again appears as a drawing, this time brought to life by Ado's counterpart Adeleine. In this appearance, Ice Dragon spews ice cubes and slams into the ground; both of which are attacks used in previous games. It has, essentially, the same amount of health it had in Kirby's Dream Land 3. It is the second to last drawing Adeleine makes during the fight, and all the ones preceding were simply common enemies that could be inhaled, while it can only be beaten by spitting out his ice cubes at him or using a Copy Ability.
In terms of appearance, this drawing looks identical to the one made by Ado.
Kirby: Planet Robobot
A holographic version of Ice Dragon, called Holo-Ice Dragon, was summoned by Holo Defense API. Its attacks are similar to its appearance in Kirby's Dream Land 2. With the Holo Defense API 2.0, though, Holo-Ice Dragon gains a different appearance, with longer spikes on its back, as well as a diamond pattern on its chest. Holo-Ice Dragon 2.0 has more powerful attacks, as well as a new snowflake throwing star attack, inspired from one of its attacks in the anime.
Team Kirby Clash Deluxe
Ice Dragon reappears in physical form two decades after its last appearance in Kirby's Dream Land 2 as a foe in Team Kirby Clash Deluxe. It retains many of the attacks used by its hologram incarnation from Kirby: Planet Robobot. It first appears in the Grasslands after defeating Pyribbit, and costs 18 Gem Apples to unlock and 13 Vigor to fight. A tougher version appears in the Volcano after defeating Taranza. This stronger version of Ice Dragon cost 30 Gem Apples to unlock as well as 18 Vigor to fight.
Physical Appearance
Ice Dragon in the pilot.
Ice Dragon, living up to its name, is a rotund dragon which is able to live in icy conditions and use ice as a means of attacking. In official art, it has light blue-green scales, teal spikes running across its back, and a pale cream colored underbelly. As a drawing, Ice Dragon's design is slightly changed. It is of the same shape, but its underbelly is now white and the rest of him is slightly subdued, almost appearing gray. In the Kirby of the Stars Pilot, Ice Dragon used the same exact design as its official art from Kirby's Dream Land 2, but here, its colors were a bit more vibrant. Its back is a dark green color, its underbelly is a very bold cream color, and the ridges running along its back are now blue (changed to yellow in the final version of the anime).
The Ice Dragon that appears in Kirby: Right Back at Ya! looks almost completely different. Its baby form bears some resemblance to its appearance in the games, although it is tiny and has a completely different color palette to match its design in the pilot. As an adult, Ice Dragon is extremely tall and has an elongated body and a longer snout. It keeps the same coloration that it had as a baby. Ice Dragon also has jagged, visible teeth as an adult.
In the Anime
Ice Dragon using his devastating ice breath
The Ice Dragon appears in the episode Dedede's Snow Job. When Dream Land gets hot, Dedede buys this monster to beat the heat. When Ice Dragon brings snow to Dream Land, Chilly the Snowman is also created. Soon into the episode, the young Ice Dragon flees to go into hiding. While the Cappies are enjoying the cold weather, Tiff and Tuff become suspicious and try to find out where it came from. Chilly leads the group off to find Ice Dragon, which has now matured. It tries to destroy Chilly, but Kirby saves him. Ice Dragon goes after Kirby and the gang, but Kirby ends up inhaling one of the dragon's snowflakes, and becomes Ice Kirby. When everyone realizes that Kirby's ice doesn't affect the dragon from the outside, Meta Knight orders Kirby to try freezing the beast from within. Chilly hijacks Dedede's snowmobile and launches it towards Ice Dragon. Kirby leaps off the snowmobile and into Ice Dragon's mouth. When Kirby uses his ice inside of it, Ice Dragon freezes into a solid block of ice and explodes soon after. With Ice Dragon destroyed, the snow melts and summer returns to Dream Land. Unfortunately, with summer back, Chilly begins to melt, too.
In Labor Daze, Ice Dragon itself does not appear; however, King Dedede builds a mechanical Ice Dragon by getting the Cappies to work at his newly built factory. As he finishes building the robot, Tiff and Tuff find out King Dedede's evil scheme. Kirby inhales the ice breathed out by the Ice Dragon robot, becoming Ice Kirby. Kirby then destroys the boiler using the Ice ability, destroying the factory and regrowing the destroyed environment.
Ice Dragon also appears in the Kirby of the Stars Pilot as one of the many monsters summoned by Nightmare to attack Kirby. It was inhaled and copied by Kirby, who became Ice Kirby and used the power to freeze Dark Matter. Ice Dragon's design in this would later be re-used for a few scenes in the real anime.
Artwork
Gallery
.JPG "Ice Dragon Fight (Team Kirby Clash DX).JPG (39 KB)")
.JPG "Ice Dragon (Team Kirby Clash DX).JPG (34 KB)")
Sprites
