| This article contains information that does not coincide with the main series canon. | (Similar) |
 |
|---|
| “ | On the day of judgment, this fluttery fiend will fly into action. Brought into existence by “the greatest warrior in the galaxy” and reborn as a knight of doom through years of adversity—now begins an epic battle with a pure being twisted by a dark past.” |
| — VS Morpho Knight • Kirby Star Allies |
Morpho Knight, titled as Reborn Butterfly, is a boss appearing in Kirby Star Allies. It is the final boss of the Guest Star ???? Star Allies Go! mode. When playing as The Three Mage-Sisters in Guest Star ???? Star Allies Go! and in The Ultimate Choice's Soul Melter EX difficulty, it appears in a more powerful form known as Morpho Knight EX, titled as Dark-Winged Disaster.
General Information
While most information is left ambiguous and mysterious in the English versions of Morpho Knight and Morpho Knight EX’s pause screen descriptions, the Japanese versions give more details about what Morpho Knight actually is. The butterfly seen before Morpho Knight’s birth is described as a “butterfly of paradise,” and it appears in the present time after something has “ceased to be.” Along with the constant mention of “judgement day” in Morpho Knight’s pause screen descriptions, as well as its regular battle theme title, this seemingly implies that the butterfly is a being of judgement of sorts that decides the fate of those who have perished, although this is not confirmed. However, in Japanese mythology, butterflies are often associated with death and spirits, where they are sometimes believed to be guides of the spirits of the dead that take them to the afterlife, and seeing as how Morpho Knight is a butterfly, this appears to support the implication that it is associated with death. The butterfly is also stated to have the ability to cross dimensions into other worlds. After Galacta Knight, the greatest warrior in the galaxy, emerges from the portal created by Hyness, the butterfly flutters down from another dimension and resonates with the “screams of the many years spent living” that Galacta Knight has brought with him. It then absorbs Galacta Knight’s power, seemingly disintegrating him in the process, and is reborn as a “knight of the underworld,” going by the name of Morpho Knight.
Morpho Knight EX is the form Morpho Knight takes when it has mastered its new abilities after amplifying the power it has inherited from Galacta Knight to make it its own.
Physical Appearance
Morpho Knight
Morpho Knight is a spherical creature with black skin, white glowing eyes and no mouth. It has yellow shoes and gloves. Its armor is red with black ornamentations and white shoulder pads with a red swirl on both of them. Its mask has horns which resemble antennae. It has red sparkling butterfly wings on its back. It wields a sword that looks similar to Galaxia, but it has a red and gold coloration with a butterfly pattern on its handle, with blue spots on both sides of the tip of the sword. What appears to be a gemstone can be seen on the handle, which has a thin black line across it, giving it a similar appearance to a snake's eye.
Morpho Knight EX
While Morpho Knight EX's physical features remain the same as its original incarnation, the color scheme has been altered to a mostly black body with a red blade, red eyes and wings, and purple highlights on its mask and shoes. Its blade also has an eye that resembles the ones that mark Void Termina's weak points.
Battle
Morpho Knight
Morpho Knight acts just like Meta Knight and Galacta Knight in that it uses sword attacks, but Morpho Knight's sword is imbued with fire. If a friend has a Sword ability, they can deflect its sword attacks by attacking him, making their swords clash and causing it to flinch. However, one unique move Morpho Knight has is its ability to teleport. Additionally, Morpho Knight can fly to both sides of the screen, charging its sword, and emitting two giant ghostly faces. Also, Morpho Knight can charge and release sound waves from its wings that turn the leading player’s friends against them, similar to what the core of Void Termina does; a Friend Heart must be thrown at the confused friends to return them to the leading player’s side. Morpho Knight may also slice forward and then up, trapping Kirby and his allies in the air while preforming a series of slashes on them before slicing them back onto the ground, dealing massive damage. Also, in its second phase, it creates a second sword, teleports to one side of the screen, and enlarges one of them. It then swings it forward, damaging anyone behind it or in front of him. It then repeats this on the other side. After that, it teleports to the center, enlarges both swords, and swings them down on each side. Morpho Knight can also teleport around the arena releasing sound waves whenever it appears. In the second phase, among with emitting two ghastly faces, it can instead emit one huge ghostly face, then fly to other side of the screen and summon another one. Additionally, it can create one to four tornadoes, depending on how many players there are, that head into the background and then charge into the foreground one at a time, similarly to Meta Knight's Mach Tornado.
Morpho Knight appears in the game's boss rush mode, The Ultimate Choice. It appears in the three highest levels of difficulty (Fiery Showdown, Infernal Crisis and Soul Melter).
Morpho Knight EX
Morpho Knight EX retains most of its old moves, but uses them at a faster rate and teleports more often. It should be noted that when it teleports, it leaves behind a small wave that can damage Kirby. Some of its old moves have also been altered to deal more damage or to be more difficult to avoid. Instead of releasing two medium sized ghastly faces from its sword, it releases a large number of smaller faces that sweep across the battlefield in an arrow formation or a wave formation. It also gains Parallel Meta Knight's counter ability, but instead of retaliating with a swipe of its sword, Morpho Knight EX responds with its trapping aerial slash technique, which is far more damaging. When Morpho Knight EX is preparing to swing its enlarged swords, it summons small vortices that pull Kirby and his allies towards the area where the swords will strike, making it more difficult to evade the swings. Finally, instead of creating a number of tornadoes proportional to how many players there are, he summons five tornadoes that remain in the background before one at a time charging into the foreground.
Related Quotes
| “ | Come judgement day, this fluttery fiend will fly into action. Will it land in a dream world, or a nightmare? It has mastered its new abilities, now all will witness its true power!” |
| — VS Morpho Knight EX • Kirby Star Allies |
| “ | A sword that resembles a butterfly of paradise. Legend says it strikes a bright flash.” |
| — Weapon description • Super Kirby Clash |
| “ | Defensive gear inspired by "the knight of doom." This helmet appeared in response to the screams of the most powerful warrior in the galaxy.” |
| — Armor description • Super Kirby Clash |
Etymology
Morpho Knight's name may hold multiple meanings. "Morpho" means "changed" or "modified," referencing how the butterfly transforms into Morpho Knight upon making contact with Galacta Knight, or the process of metamorphosis through which caterpillars transform into butterflies. Morpho is also genus of tropical butterflies, although most appear in a blue color instead of Morpho Knight's orange; some, however, such as the Morpho hecuba, do appear in an orange color. However, it should be noted that Morpho butterflies have ocelli (eye spots), which Morpho Knight's butterfly form lacks, and Morpho butterfly wings don't have tails, unlike Morpho Knight's.
Its Japanese name, バルフレイナイト (Barufurei Naito), may be a portmanteau of Valkyrie, バルキリー (Barukirī), and butterfly, バタフライ (Batafurai). ナイト (Naito) simply means knight.
Music
| Name | Music Track |
|---|---|
| “Butterfly of Judgement: Morpho Knight” | |
| “Nightmare Battle” (King Dedede/Meta Knight/Bandana Waddle Dee Ver.) | |
| “Dark Cloudy” (Rick & Kine & Coo Ver.) | |
| “VS. Marx/Star Allies Dream ver.” (Marx Ver.) | |
| “Dark Matter in the Hyper Zone” (Gooey Ver.) | |
| “The Maidens’ Struggle with Darkness” (Adeleine & Ribbon Ver.) | |
| “Dark Mirage” (Dark Meta Knight Ver.) | |
| “True! Squeak Squad Theme” (Daroach Ver.) | |
| “Supreme Crowned Ruler ~OVERLORD~” (Magolor Ver.) | |
| “Phantom of the Moon’s Spirit” (Taranza Ver.) | |
| “Deus Ex Machina at a Young Age” (Susie Ver.) | |
| “Passion of the Tridental Flashing Mages” (The Three Mage-Sisters Ver.) |
Canonicity
Morpho Knight's battle and birth are not canon, since these events only take place in non-canon subgames. However, the existence of the butterfly of paradise and its possible role as the being of judgement may be canon.
Trivia
The original artwork of Morpho Knight
- Morpho Knight's design was first shown in the Japanese 20th Anniversary booklet. Because it was shown in Meta Knight’s section, many assumed it to be the beta design of Meta Knight. However, in a Nintendo Dream interview with Shinya Kumazaki, he confirmed that the design was originally for an entirely different knight that would have appeared in the cancelled Kirby GCN.[1] Its design remains unaltered in Kirby Star Allies, though its sword and wings slightly differ.
- While the English localization makes it unclear whether or not Morpho Knight is the butterfly itself or a fusion between it and Galacta Knight, the Japanese version makes it much clearer that Morpho Knight is the butterfly and not a fusion.
- Morpho Knight's butterfly form is nearly identical to the orange butterflies that are seen in several of the newer Kirby opening and ending cutscenes.
- Whether Morpho Knight is one in particular is unknown.
- While real morpho butterflies are usually blue, Morpho Knight is mostly red, and resembles a Monarch Butterfly more. However, the female Morpho aega is a brownish-orange color. The design of the wings also shows that Morpho Knight is a Morpho butterfly as very few butterflies have that specific shape.
- Morpho Knight's battle theme has a similar beat to Meta Knight's battle theme from Kirby Super Star.
- When playing as one of the Dream Friends, different music plays while fighting Morpho Knight along with the arena receiving a great revamp in design. As such, Morpho Knight has a total of 12 different battle themes, which is the most in the Kirby series.
- As of version 4.0.0, fighting it as Bandana Waddle Dee, King Dedede or Meta Knight will replace the music with a remastered version of Nightmare's theme from Kirby's Adventure/Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land.
- Fighting it as Rick & Kine & Coo will replace the music with a remastered version of the music that plays while fighting Dark Matter's true form in Kirby's Dream Land 2, with some elements of Cloudy Park's music mixed in.
- Fighting it as Marx will replace the music with a remastered version of his theme from Kirby Super Star/Kirby Super Star Ultra.
- Fighting it as Gooey will replace the music with a remastered version of Hyper Zone's first theme from Kirby's Dream Land 3.
- Fighting it as Adeleine & Ribbon will replace the music with a remix of 0²'s theme, Miracle Matter's theme, and Ripple Star's stage select theme from Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards.
- Fighting it as Dark Meta Knight will replace the music with a remix of the boss theme and Dark Mind's second phase theme from Kirby & The Amazing Mirror.
- Fighting it as Daroach will replace the music with a remastered version of "Here Come the Squeaks!" from Kirby: Squeak Squad.
- Fighting it as Magolor will replace the music with a remix of "C-R-O-W-N-E-D" mixed with Dangerous Dinner's stage select theme, Another Dimension's theme, The Arena theme and Sky Tower's theme from Kirby's Return to Dream Land.
- Fighting it as Taranza will replace the music with a remix of Queen Sectonia's themes, starting with "Sullied Grace", continuing with "Moonstruck Blossom" and ending with "The World to Win", all from Kirby: Triple Deluxe.
- Fighting it as Susie will replace the music with a remix of "Vagrant Counting Song of Retrospection" and "Vs. Star Dream" from Kirby: Planet Robobot.
- Fighting it as The Three Mage-Sisters will replace the music with the theme that plays during the second phase of a fight with them in Heroes in Another Dimension.
- The alternate arenas used for the Dream Friends contain familiar locations in the center pool.
- In the Wave 1 arena, Hyper Zone from Kirby's Dream Land 3 is visible in the pool.
- In the Wave 2 arena, Dark Star from Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards is visible in the pool.
- In the Wave 3 arena, Another Dimension is visible in the pool.
- In Super Kirby Clash, an armor set and sword based on Morpho Knight and its sword appears as an armor and weapon, respectively.
Artwork
Concept Artwork
Gallery
Models
References
| End of spoilers |
|---|