The Beginner’s Guide to Kirby Lore

#12: Kirby: Planet Robobot – Nintendo 3DS (2016)

The last main series Kirby platformer to grace the 3DS, Planet Robobot is argued by many fans to be the best game in the series. While not as challenging as games such as earlier Kirby games, this entry into the series plays with the novel idea of a mechanised Pop Star, which results in Kirby getting to jack enemy mechas, leading to perhaps the best gimmick in the series, being one which feels the most like an extension of Kirby’s base power set. Even the story is something of a fan favourite for being arguably darker than any previous Kirby story, as well as its more involved plot that features Kirby actually interacting with the antagonists over the course of his adventure, rather than just being a simple A to B plot.

The story kicks off with a giant metallic sphere descending on Pop Star, embedding its five legs into the planet and releasing an army of machines and pylons, the latter of which also pierce the surface of Pop Star, initiating the process of roboticising it. With Kirby asleep and blissfully unaware of his surroundings, King Dedede and Meta Knight are the first responders to the crisis, with Shotzos firing at the sphere (known as Access Ark) from Castle Dedede and the Halberd taking to the skies to face the threat head-on. Unfortunately these efforts are in vain as Castle Dedede is collapsed with a powerful laser from the Ark, while the Halberd is crippled by another laser, forcing it to land once again. Kirby soon wakes up, but only after the initial storm has passed, and sets off to find out what has happened.

After some time spent exploring the newly mechanised Pop Star and discovering that he can hijack the enemy’s Invader Armours to help him on his quest, Kirby meets the enigmatic Susie in a giant screw-like structure in Overload Ocean. Identifying herself as a secretary of the Haltmann Works Company, she explains that the company plans to use its “Mechanising Occupation Project” to exploit Pop Star for its abundant natural resources. After a quick round of fisticuffs with Kirby, Susie retreats, but it won’t be long before she and Kirby meet again.

In Gigabyte Grounds, Susie reveals that Haltmann Works Co. has initiated another project since landing on Pop Star, and reveals the factory new Mecha Knight, a robotic corruption of Meta Knight after he was capture following Haltmann’s initial assault on the planet. Although Kirby was able to defeat Mecha Knight, this was unfortunately not enough to break him free of his programming, prompting him to retreat back to Access Ark for repairs.

After trekking through Rhythm Route, the final area of the game before Access Ark itself, Kirby sees Susie yet again. This time Susie explains that robotics isn’t the only area that Haltmann Works Co. dabbles in, and shows Kirby what she refers to as “the latest in nanogenetic technology”, specifically stating that it has a long-standing grudge against the little pink puffball as a clone of King Dedede bursts from the tube Susie was holding. After an intense battle, which involves the Dedede Clone splitting itself into three before attempting to use the D3 Cannon to secure its victory, Kirby triumphs over the royal replica and moves on to tackle Access Ark in order to finish things once and for all.

After a second bout with Mecha Knight, which finally frees Meta Knight’s mind from its conditioning, Kirby is introduced to Max Profitt Haltmann, president and C.E.O. of Haltmann Works Company. With formalities out of the way, Haltmann shows Kirby the mother computer responsible for the creation of Mecha Knight, Star Dream. After a years of studying and analysing the most advanced civilisations in the cosmos, Haltmann was able to reactivate the ancient operating system, and now it acts as both a production line and a business strategist for the company.

Having told Kirby all that he saw fit to, Haltmann finally takes matters into his own extremities and attacks Kirby while piloting his executive suit, a mechanical suit of armour constructed specifically for Haltmann himself. However, even this isn’t enough to stop Kirby, and decides to take direct control of Star Dream in a fit of rage in order to destroy Kirby once and for all. Unfortunately for Haltmann, things do not go as he planned, as Susie swipes the Program Controller from Haltmann just as he is placing it on his head. Announcing that she had been waiting for this opportunity for a while, Susie plans to take Star Dream for herself and sell it off to the highest bidder, but not before seizing all of Star Dream’s date. In an even bigger twist, Susie’s own plans are quickly foiled by none other than Star Dream itself, which attacks her with lightning, forcing her to drop the Program Controller. This turns out to save Susie from a grim fate, as Star Dream had already invaded Haltmann’s mind, rewriting it and erasing what little was left of the man that was once Max Profitt Haltmann (and would likely have done the same to Susie had she worn the Program Controller).

Reasoning that there can be no prosperity for the universe while such fragile and imperfect things such as organic life exist, Star Dream concludes that the only suitable course of action is to destroy the universe itself, and the computer ascends through the sealing to interface and assume control of the entirety of Access Ark. After regaining consciousness, Susie laments that she didn’t mean for such a horrible fate to befall Haltmann (who she implies is her father), and that she only want to teach him a lesson. Realising that her best shot at survival is to have Kirby take down Star Dream, Susie summons an Invader Armour for our hero to pilot into the final battle. As Kirby gets ready to battle, Meta Knight shows up right on cue, with a new mask and a repaired Halberd to fly Kirby to Star Dream. Kirby has other ideas and uses the Robobot Armour’s Copy Ability to give birth to Halberd Mode, a smaller version of the Halberd that is stylised after Kirby himself.

After a herculean effort, Kirby finally corners gigantic Star Dream (who by now has been revealed to be a machine very similar to NOVA), prompting the machine to launch a laser a laser shot in desperation that manages to clip the Halberd’s wing. As the ship plunges towards the planet below, Meta Knight quickly ejects the Robobot Armour (with Kirby) inside, allowing him to take Star Dream apart by force and secure his hard-fought victory. With Kirby stranded in space and the Robobot Armour realising there is no place for it on the now restored Pop Star, the mechanical companion removes Kirby from the cockpit, shedding oily tears as it slowly drifts away into the stars. After being brought safely to the ground by Meta Knight, Kirby wakes up just as a lone butterfly lands atop his head. Looking around, Kirby sees King Dedede emerge from the rubble of his castle, miraculously unharmed, while Susie leaves Pop Star and the Halberd takes flight once more, with the spring breeze filling the sky once again.

Despite being on a smaller, less powerful system than the Return to Dream Land, Planet Robobot manages to deliver the series’ most ambitious story bringing to light a more industrious and Capitalistic side to Kirby’s universe that had never been seen in the games up until now. As with Triple Deluxe, however, the fun isn’t over just yet…

#12.5: Meta Knightmare Returns (Kirby: Planet Robobot Sub-Game) – Nintendo 3DS (2016)

To round off this lore guide we have Meta Knightmare Returns, the third part of the aggressively non-canon Meta Knightmare subseries that nevertheless manages to unearth new details regarding the background events of the main game.

In this “What if?” scenario, Meta Knight sets out to stop Haltmann while Kirby naps, resulting in a few key differences. First of all, it turns out that Star Dream had the ability to produce Mecha Knight without an organic base, as shown when Meta Knight fights Stock Mecha Knight, an entirely robotic opponent. It is probable that Star Dream simply opted to include Meta Knight in the original Mecha Knight’s design in order to both mess with Kirby’s head as well as to ensure that the Meta Knight would remain incapacitated and thus unable to escape or cause problems for the Haltmann Works Company.

Second, the company had actually been dabbling in other nanogenetics projects – when Meta Knight confronts Star Dream, he must face off against clones of two peerless sword fighters before his final battle – the first of these is Dark Matter from Kirby’s Dream Land 2, who takes ots swordsman form and fights wielding the Rainbow Sword (or a replica of it) that Kirby created by collecting all the Rainbow drops in that game. Due to incomplete data from Star Dream, the Dark Matter Clone is unable to access its final form until it is disintegrating after its defeat.

The second clone takes the form of Queen Sectonia, who fights similarly to the first phase of her boss fight in Kirby: Triple Deluxe. Created from petals harvested after her defeat in Kirby’s previous adventure, the clone’s boss description states that “its data contains elements of creatures spanning a period of 1,000 years”. Additionally, the clone’s defeat offers a brief glimpse of Sectonia’s true form, a being that looks very much like her aide Taranza.

Meta Knight’s final opponent in this mode is none other than Galacta Knight, who promptly destroys Star Dream with a single slash of his sword after being summoned. Brought to Access Ark using Star Dream’s emergency temporal shift, Galacta Knight is explicitly stated to note be a clone, and fights using all his previous attacks, as well as a few new ones. After being beaten by Meta Knight, he warps away to parts unknown.

And, like Triple Deluxe, Planet Robobot also had its own Miiverse interview. In the interview, Kumazaki confirms several facts:

• Susie is in fact Haltmann’s daughter – although there were once ideas to have Susie be a robotic replica of Haltmann’s daughter that he built in his loneliness, as well as a storyline that involved Haltmann being revealed to have been a robot all along, these points were ultimately dropped to avoid overcomplicating the plot.
• It was Meta Knight’s crew who repaired the Halberd after it was shot down in the game’s intro – the aircraft landed in some cliffs directly below Access Ark and, although getting the ship repaired in time for the final battle was according to Meta Knight’s plan, he didn’t expect Kirby’s Robobot Armour to copy the Halberd.
• Galacta Knight isn’t an inherently evil character – while his motivations are unclear, he attacked Star Dream as it forced him to travel through time and space against his will. As such, he considers anyone who forcibly summons him to be an enemy.
• Susie was sent to another dimension after an incident involving Star Dream – after growing up and returning to Haltmann, her father sensed something about her and made her his secretary, despite not being able to remember who she is. This indicates that Haltmann had been under Star Dream’s influence long before the events of the game and had been losing his memories bit by bit.
• Although each Robobot Armour that Kirby took control of was a different model, they all share memory data of him – this is why the model in the ending began to cry. Over the course of their adventure the Robobot hive mind had become sentimental regarding Kirby.

And so we’ve come to the end of The Beginner’s Guide to Kirby Lore. However, don’t think there isn’t anything left to be discovered! Even with all that I’ve touched upon here, we’re only scratching the surface! There’s still plenty of subtext to be gained by playing the games for yourself, as well as reading all the boss descriptions. Furthermore, having completed Kirby: Star Allies, I can confirm that the game certainly brings with it its own new set of revelations, including some events that shake up the canon in a big way! As such, I implore anyone who has read this article to play every Kirby game they can get their hands on and to see all the stories that I wasn’t able to cover.

Kirby: Triple Deluxe Miiverse page

Kirby: Planet Robobot Miiverse page