Ado
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- This article is about the character from Kirby's Dream Land 3. For a similar character who appears in other games and might possibly be Ado herself, see Adeleine.
Ado is a boss from Kirby's Dream Land 3. She is a human girl who came to Popstar in order to practice painting.[1]
Ado bears a strong resemblance to Adeleine, both in looks and mannerisms. A few statements in the English canon imply that the two are the same character, but their relationship in the Japanese canon has been left ambiguous.
In Kirby's Dream Land 3
Ado is faced down at the end of Cloudy Park.
Phase 1
Ado has two phases. Using her giant canvas, she paints enemies that will battle Kirby for her in Phase 1. She summons Ice Dragon, Sweet Stuff, Mr. Shine and Mr. Bright, and Kracko, all of which are bosses in Kirby's Dream Land 2 and attack the same way, but with significantly less health. Kirby can use his Inhale technique to swallow their projectiles and spit the projectiles back at the paintings, or attack them with abilities. The Ice Dragon Painting can be destroyed in 3 star bullets' worth of damage. The Sweet Stuff can withstand 4 star bullets' worth of damage. Mr. Bright and Mr. Shine can withstand damage equal to 6 star bullets' worth in total (3 per painting). The Kracko painting can withstand damage equal to 8 star bullets' worth.
- Ice Dragon KDL3.png
Ice Dragon painting.
- Sweet Stuff KDL3.png
Sweet Stuff painting.
- Mr Shine KDL3.png
Mr. Shine painting.
- Mr Bright KDL3.png
Mr. Bright painting.
- Kracko KDL3.png
Kracko painting.
Phase 2
After Kirby destroys the paintings, Ado comes at him with a paintbrush, at which point one Slide or Air Bullet and she'll be done for. Ado will also be taken out even if she manages to hit Kirby.
- Ado Last Resort.jpg
Ado runs out of options at the end of the fight, charging Kirby hoping to do some damage with her brush.
Aftermath
After Kirby uses the Heart Stars to purge the area of Dark Matter's influence, he can come back to see Ado, who will be much friendlier. She will paint a number of different things at random, then erase them. These paintings include:
- A diamond ring
- A Strawberry Shortcake slice
- A pink Game Boy
Ado or Adeleine
After the release of Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards for the Nintendo 64, there was much debate about Ado's relationship to Adeleine, a similar character who appears in said game, with pre-release material suggesting they were likely meant to be the same character during a point in development. The book "20th Anniversary - Hoshi no Kirby: Pupupu Taizen", first released in 2012, addresses the many similarities of the characters, and suggests that Ado could be a nickname of Adeleine, but ultimately states that it is simply unknown if they are the same person or not.[2]
A similar artbook released in 2017, "Kirby Art & Style Collection", also includes a piece of concept art that appears to have been sent to manga artists after Kirby's Dream Land 3's release. In the artwork, two designs for Ado are shown—one resembling her in-game sprite, and another resembling Adeleine—and guidelines are shown to indicate that artists should draw her in the latter design rather than the former.[2] Because of this, many manga appearances of Ado resemble Adeleine, and some combined the two into a singular character after Kirby 64 was released. Early concept art for Kirby 64 also shows Adeleine resembling this design, with a cross-shaped button on her smock rather than a circular one. However, a caption below the artwork states that it only concerns Ado, and that Adeleine is merely "a character reminiscent of her", gelling with the earlier statement in "Pupupu Taizen".[3]
A tidbit worth noting is that both characters are shown in supplementary material to call other characters by nicknames, such as "Kir-kun" for Kirby and "Dede no Dan'na" ("Mr. Dede") for King Dedede.[3]
While recent Japanese media has treated them as separate characters that only might possibly be the same, both Nintendo of Europe and Nintendo of Russia have stated that Adeleine appeared in Kirby's Dream Land 3, via the descriptions of their YouTube videos featuring the trailer for Adeleine & Ribbon's appearance in Kirby Star Allies. Specifically, it seems that all of these were translated from the English UK version of the video. However, this detail is notably absent on both the respective Nintendo of America and Nintendo of Japan equivalents, so it could have possibly been an error. Additionally, in Star Allies, Adeleine has a move known as Ado's Painter, allowing her to paint the same bosses as Ado could in Kirby's Dream Land 3. This can either be seen as evidence supporting the two as the same character, or it could simply be referencing Ado while retaining her as a distinct character.
Trivia
- Her battle system is similar to the Holo Defense API from Kirby: Planet Robobot.
- The way she tumbles upon defeat is similar to the Keke enemy in the same game.
- Ado's appearance in her official artwork differs greatly from her design shown in larger artwork in-game, such as the credits illustrations. In her official artwork, she is squat with thin, cartoon-like limbs and eyes similar to Kirby's, while her in-game artwork shows her with more realistic proportions and anime-like eyes with white scleras. The artist appears to have used her simplified sprite for reference, and given the excerpt from "Art and Style Collection" seen above, it is likely that the in-game artwork is what she's intended to look like.