| “ | I'll be the one to keep the peace! | „ |
| ~ King Dedede when summoned as a Dream Friend. |
King Dedede (デデデ大王, Dedede Daiō) is the deuteragonist of HAL Laboratory's Kirby franchise.
He is an overweight blue anthropomorphic penguin-like creature who is the self-proclaimed king of Dream Land, the ruler of the Waddle Dees, and Kirby's arch-rival. Although he started as a full-on villain in earlier installments, Dedede has since evolved into becoming one of Kirby's closest friends and allies, and his villainous behavior is nowadays being the result of a mere pawn possessed or brainwashed by an invasive, malevolent force. As of later installments, he has begun helping Kirby in his many adventures.
He is voiced by Shinya Kumazaki throughout the in-game franchise, and by Masahiro Sakurai in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards and the Super Smash Bros. franchise.
His Good Ranking[]
What Makes Him Close to Being Pure Good?[]
In General[]
- Although he was greedy in earlier installments, he subverts this as the franchise goes on, as he hasn’t been that greedy outside of the original game (and the spinoffs) and never tried pulling this type of stunt again, and when he did this, he was possessed and wasn’t given any free will in the matter.
- He isn’t an on & off character. as when he has attacked Kirby outside of the very first game, which Dedede had long redeemed himself for, it's usually when he wants to settle his rivalry with him or when he's being mind controlled.
- His jerkish moments are far more toned down after he redeems himself, and his worst moments were pre-redemption.
- Even though he still holds questionable competency as a king, he is lenient towards his denizens, and has on many occasions proven himself to be one of the most capable protectors of Dream Land.
- Although he is still somewhat dim, he is mostly played on his feet in heroic endeavors.
- While the spin-off games shown him as a full-blown jerk like in Kirby Battle Royale, they aren't canonical so these corrupting qualities don't affect his status.
- Although Kirby is more heroic, he not only helps him in ways that are too significant to overlook, but also isn’t anywhere close to being as powerful, so he doesn’t fail the admirable standards.
Mainstream[]
- In Kirby's Adventure, he steals the Star Rod from the Fountain of Dreams for a genuinely good reason, as he wanted to protect Dream Land and his citizens from Lord Nightmare. When Kirby defeats him, Dedede tried reasoning with him, and when Kirby puts the Star Rod back while unintentionally releasing Nightmare, Dedede inhales Kirby and the Star Rod into the sky to beat Nightmare.
- In Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, after being freed when being possessed by Dark Matter, he joins Kirby and the gang to find the titular Crystal Shards and defeat Dark Matter. It should also be noted that his motives for going with them was that he went with them because he didn’t want them going on their own.
- In Kirby: Squeak Squad, he and Meta Knight were likely the ones who captured Dark Nebula and put them in a Treasure Chest due to knowing about it. After Kirby beats the former up, he doesn’t show any animosity towards Kirby and thinks fast by hurling Kirby towards them, knowing that he would be able to beat Dark Nebula.
- In Kirby Super Star Ultra, while he did send Bandana Dee to fight Kirby, he quickly rejects doing this and spares Bandana Dee from fighting Kirby. Before fighting Kirby, Dedede honorably offers Kirby a hammer. After being defeated by Kirby, he redeems himself and becomes one of Kirby’s friends.
- In Kirby’s Return to Dreamland, he, alongside Kirby, Bandana Dee, and Meta Knight, helped to repair Magolor’s ship. After the latter revealed he used all of them to obtain the Master Crown, Dedede and the others defeat him and prevent him from ruling over the entire universe.
- In Kirby: Triple Deluxe, he helps Kirby defeat Queen Sectonia by clearing a path for him through the vines. He later saves Kirby from Sectonia’s vines and, with the help of Taranza (his former kidnapper), is able to give Kirby the Hypernova Fruit to defeat Sectonia. His actions were acknowledged as crucial to Kirby upon defeating Sectonia and saving Floralia, implying the Dreamstalk actually brought two heroes to save Floralia.
- In Kirby: Planet Robobot, he tries to defend Planet Popstar when it is being invaded by Haltmann Works Company. In this game, there is a clone of Dedede with some of his DNA, and while it does say that he has a grudge against Kirby, this is subverted as it was stated that clone itself lacks his soul and is incredibly incomplete, so these traits shouldn’t apply to Dedede himself.
- In Kirby Star Allies, after being freed from the Jamba Heart's corruption, he goes along with Kirby and helps him defeat multiple other villains including the Three Mage Sisters, Hyness, Void Termina and multiple others. It is also stated that Kirby was incredibly surprised with Dedede doing the same thing he did in the first game which cements how Dedede isn’t a bad guy and officially redeemed himself. In his guest star description, it is stated that Dedede wants to keep the peace in Dream Land and set off to save his people which also has him defeat Morpho Knight.
- In Kirby and the Forgotten Land, while he was brainwashed by Fecto Elfilis (more brainwashed than before), he still tried to fight against the control it was taking on him. When he was defeated by Kirby and freed from his mind control, he saved a single Waddle Dee from the Beast Pack and stayed back to fight the hoard to aid Kirby and the others. While he was a bit upset at Kirby for saving the Waddle Dee, this was likely due to wanting to save them himself while he was being brainwashed. It is also worth noting that Dedede willingly gave Kirby his hammer for future fights, which would make him indirectly save Leongar from a fate worse than death.
- It's also outright stated in the game that he views Kirby as a friendly rival instead of a genuine adversary, and that he was upset that he couldn’t find Kirby after being transported there, showing how much he's grown to care for the latter.
What Prevents Him from Being Pure Good?[]
- Despite subverting his corrupting qualities (such as his greed for example), he is still prone of being a bit lazy and arrogant sometimes.
Trivia[]
- He was initially used to attain IA status, but after it was discussed, he reformed away from a lot of his corrupting factors and was moved to Near Pure Good instead.
- His anime counterpart cannot qualify as NPG due to being too arrogant and jerkish. He also committed a lot of heinous crimes without remorse, and is also very abusive and cruel toward those around him. It's also unknown if he passed the show's admirable standards.
External Links[]
- King Dedede on the Heroes Wiki
- King Dedede on the Villains Wiki
- King Dedede on the Nintendo Wiki
- King Dedede on the Kirby Wiki
- King Dedede on the WiKirby
- King Dedede on the Smash Bros. Wiki
- King Dedede on the Smash Wiki
- King Dedede on the VS Battles Wiki
- King Dedede on the Love Exalted Wiki
- King Dedede on the Shonen Rivals Wiki
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 Near Pure Goods
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Games See Also | ||
 Near Pure Goods
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Metroid Star Fox Fire Emblem F-Zero Live A Live Retro See Also | ||
 Near Pure Goods
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Playable Characters See Also | ||