Meta Knight

Meta Knight is a major character in the Kirby series appearing in most of the games, manga, as well as the anime. The intrigue and popularity surrounding Meta Knight within the Kirby fandom largely lies in his shrouded motives and his striking likeness to Kirby himself. Due to Meta Knight's way of doing things and his oft-hidden intentions, the relationship between Kirby and Meta Knight is unpredictable in nature, and range from anywhere between being bitter rivals to being steadfast allies to one another and can change at a moment's notice. He respects a code of honor, and always offers Kirby a sword whenever he fights against him. Meta Knight is a playable character in many spinoffs, and is presented in many of the newer games as a "friend or foe" character. Meta Knight is a fictional character in Nintendo's Kirby video game series created by Masahiro Sakurai and developed by HAL Laboratory. Meta Knight first appeared in the 1993 video game Kirby's Adventure. The character also appears in several merchandising, Kirby comic books, in the 2001 anime series, and in Super Smash Bros. series.

In the series, Meta Knight is a mysterious nature knight; this has led to him playing more of a "friend or foe" role and less of an actual playable character throughout the Kirby series. Meta Knight received mostly very positive critical reception since his introduction, being described as a "cool" character and called a "badass"; he became a popular character among fans, and a reviewer also noted him as more popular than the series' primary antagonist King Dedede.

Characteristics
Meta Knight is an honorable swordsman that follows the chivalric code, Meta Knight's trophy description in Super Smash Bros. Melee. An example of this is to give Kirby a sword to fight with. He always wears a white-silver mask, and under it, he looks almost exactly like Kirby, though with a blue body (black in his first appearance) and yellow eyes. He wears a navy blue mantle, The Dimensional Cape, that can transform into a set of bat-like wings (but in Kirby's Return to Dream Land the wings grow directly from his body), and he usually wields a golden sword called the Galaxia Sword (though he gave the "Master Sword" in Kirby & the Amazing Mirror). He is usually described as the Kirby's rival, and as an antihero. Despite of being the "bad guy", he has benign aims, and Meta Knight also fights alongside Kirby if it is necessary to face a greater evil. Because of this attitude he plays a "friend or foe" role.

In Kirby video game series
Meta Knight first appeared in the NES game Kirby's Adventure (1993) as the boss of the Orange Ocean level, where he fights Kirby to keep him from taking a piece of the Star Rod to keep it out of Nightmare's hands. He is the main antagonist of the Revenge of Meta Knight mode in Kirby Super Star (1996), in which he attempts to take over Dream Land in order to put an end to the inhabitants' lazy lifestyle. Meta Knight is a playable character in special mode Meta Knightmare of Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land (2002). In Kirby & the Amazing Mirror (2004), Meta Knight split Kirby into four identical Kirbys of different colors by shattering a special mirror. He appears as a boss who works to keep the chest containing Dark Nebula out of Kirby's hands in Kirby: Squeak Squad (2006). In Kirby Super Star Ultra (2008), he appears as playable character in Meta Knightmare Ultra. Meta Knight also appears in Kirby's Return to Dream Land (2011) as one of the main protagonists along with Kirby, King Dedede, and Waddle Dee, and as playable character in multi-player mode.

Meta Knight also appears in several non-canonical games in the series. He makes brief appearances in Kirby's Pinball Land and Kirby's Avalanche (both from 1993); in this last game his name is first revealed, and he acts as the penultimate challenger. He is an unlockable character in Kirby Air Ride (2003) and Kirby: Canvas Curse (2005). Meta Knight is a boss in Kirby's Epic Yarn (2010) and Kirby Mass Attack (2011).

Other appearances
Meta Knight is featured in the 1994-2006 manga Kirby of the Stars: The Story of Dedede Who Lives In Pupupu written by Hirokazu Hikawa and published by Shogakukan in CoroCoro Comic, Bessatsu CoroCoro Comic, Shōgakukan no Gakunen Betsu Gakushū Zasshi and Televi-Kun. He also appears in the ongoing Noboru Matsuyama Hoshi no Kirby: Kirby to Dedede no Pupupu Nikki, originally a Famitsu DS+Cube+Advance (a suupplement of Famitsu DS+Wii) manga that later moved to Terebi Gemu Magazin; and in Asami Taniguchi manga Hoshi no Kirby: Moretsu Pupupuawā!, where he is a main character, that currently runs in Bessatsu CoroCoro Comic.

In Kirby: Right Back at Ya!, he is a main character. In the series, he is the last surviving member of the Galaxy Soldier Army, made up of "Star Warriors", of which Kirby is one. They are basically warriors who rebelled against Nightmare. He works for Dedede in order to help Kirby and keep watch over the activities of Nightmare Enterprises.

Meta Knight appears in two Super Smash Bros. series games: in Melee he features as a trophy, and in Super Smash Bros. Brawl he is a playable character.

Reception
IGN described him as "one of the most enigmatic characters in the Kirby series", and also named him one of their ten favorite sword wielding characters in the video games, adding he was once "a mere villain in the Kirby series", however "his devilishly cool appearance set him apart from the rest". As IGN, ScrewAttack also listed Meta Knight as one of best swordsmen in video games, placing he tenth on their Top 10, and describrig he as "the ultra-badass version of sword Kirby". They also ranked the battle against him as the eleventh on their list of "Top 25 Favorite Boss Battles". GamesRadar ranked Meta Knight as twelfth most misunderstood videogame villains, saying he is "the standard good-guy folderol[...], except that Meta Knight is invariably the bad guy", and said Meta Knight versus Kirby "[i]t's like if Batman picked a fight with a morbidly obese shut-in, and you were supposed to root for the shut-in." They also listed him on "The Top 7 Unlikeliest badasses in gaming", saying he shouldn't be a badass as "he's a little blue ball with stubby cartoon feet", but adding "never before has being round and adorable been so d*** awe-inspiring."

He is the 18th best Nintendo character of all time according to GameDaily, that also placed him third in a list about Nintendo characters that deserve their own games. Sharing this feeling, Complex ranked Meta Knight eight on its list of "25 Video Game Characters That Deserve a Spinoff", adding he developed from "a nameless villain" in Kirby's Adventure into "Kirby's rival", and noted that his popularity has surpassed King Dedede. His inclusion in Super Smash Bros. Brawl was praised: he was listed in the top 5 five characters of Bozon (ranked second), Peer (ranked fourth), and Richard George (ranked first) from IGN, with the three highlighting his speed, and Bozon saying he is "the best single-player Brawler"; Jesse Schedeen also from IGN, remarked that "Meta Knight is a true powerhouse of the SSBB cast"; and UGO Networks said Meta Knight is "[t]he most dangerous sword-wielding, helmet-wearing, sentient balloon you're ever likely to meet." In other hand, the balance among the Brawl characters was impaired, with Meta Knight "standing tall above the rest". Due to this, the character was removed from professional gaming competitions.