Dark Mind
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| “ | High above the skies of Dream Land, the mirror world needs help! A shadowy figure is unleashing chaos on the peaceful world! | ” | — Flavor text from the opening narration of Kirby & The Amazing Mirror |
Dark Mind is the main antagonist and final boss of Kirby & The Amazing Mirror. He is a fearsome deity and wishes to bring the Mirror World under his control. He has three forms and six phases in total. Dark Mind initially takes a humanoid form which resembles Nightmare, but later transforms into a more monstrous form which resembles Zero, similar to Dark Matter. During these fights, Kirby must fight Dark Mind with the Master sword. If Kirby loses this sword, the weapon respawns in a later phase, and Dark Mind, as any boss, supplies him with projectiles for Kirby to attack.
Physical appearance
| “ | And so, Dark Mind was defeated, and his dream of conquering the Mirror World was shattered. | ” | — Flavor text from the ending narration of Kirby & The Amazing Mirror |
Dark Mind has three forms. In the first, he wears a mask resembling an animal skull with large golden spikes coming out from it that conceals most of his face. The main body is usually covered by his large, fiery cloak, but when shown, it's almost identical to the second form, though with seven metallic spikes coming out from it, the biggest two of them curved and on top. He also has two grey floating hands with long silvery claws.
The second form is an orange and red sphere with a fiery texture, one black eye, and a constantly moving red aura.
The final form looks nigh identical to the second, but smaller, and the red aura has changed to white.
Game appearances
Kirby & The Amazing Mirror
First Form
When the Kirbys defeats Dark Meta Knight, a sudden portal appears, sending them into a fight against Dark Mind's first form. To help the Kirbys, Meta Knight tosses in his own sword, which Kirby can pick up to get the Master ability. Unless if Kirby picks up the sword, the battle won't start.
When the battle against Dark Mind's first form begins, he will initially be intangible to most of Kirby's attacks for a while until a few seconds later. Dark Mind is capable of using various attacks from shooting star projectiles to teleporting and even spinning his mirrors to attack the Kirbys. Dark Mind can be attacked at any point, but he has a special weak point (represented by a fiery-looking orange eye) that he sometimes reveals when shooting star projectiles, and can be attacked to make him recoil and take more damage.
Dark Mind's first form is fought four times throughout the main story, with each phase separated by three rest areas featuring optional items and copy abilities found in challenges.If Kirby has lost the Master ability before the next rematch, the golden sword will appear once again for him to regain the ability, under similar circumstances. The following lists the various arena formations for each rematch of Dark Mind's first form:
- Battle 1 - A rocky, flat area with no obstacles.
- Battle 2 - Similar to the first battle, but features assets based on Radish Ruins, in addition to two thin floors placed on either side of the screen.
- Battle 3 - A flat area with assets based on Cabbage Cavern, featuring two shallow pools of water on either side of the screen, designed to limit Kirby's movement options when dodging attacks.
- Battle 4 - Similar to Battle 1, but the floor resembles that of the icy ground from Peppermint Palace and is now very slippery.
| Dark Mind (First Form)'s Attacks in Kirby & The Amazing Mirror | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Attack | Description | Variations | Notes |
| Starting attacks: | |||
| Star Shot | Dark Mind shoots two colorful star-shaped projectiles at Kirby, which also rebound in a different direction should they hit the ground. Usually, they are shot out once and at a moderate speed, and there are variations where Dark Mind can shoot a pair of projectiles instead. | Note that the star-shaped projectiles are shared with various, similar attacks, and always give a different copy ability. More types are added per rematch, which also randomizes which colors are used when spawning these star projectiles: | |
| Star Volley | Dark Mind shoots a rapid volley of star-shaped projectiles in a widespread angle from his eye, usually targeting the first player Kirby. | Starting in the third battle, Dark Mind may also slowly move towards Kirby's location. | The trajectory of the stars also depends on if Dark Mind was also knocked back by Kirby. |
| Teleport | Dark Mind quickly teleports around the arena, allowing him to temporarily evade Kirby's attacks for a while. This is guaranteed to be performed every time Dark Mind is hit by Kirby. | This move is performed starting halfway through the first battle. | |
| Horizontal Star Barrage | Dark Mind hovers towards Kirby's relative vertical position and stays on either far side of the screen, then shoots several fast-moving star projectiles at Kirby from either far side of the screen. | Starting halfway in the third battle, these star projectiles are shot out more frequently and move faster. Another variation of this move is present in the fourth battle while Dark Mind's HP is halfway through. It features even more slow-moving star projectiles with more elaborate, randomized angles. |
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| Used starting with the second battle: | |||
| Mirror Spin | Dark Mind spreads out his mirrors and makes them spin very fast. These mirrors become tangible and can hit Kirby should he not be careful. | Starting halfway in the third battle, these star projectiles are shot out more frequently and move faster. | |
| Homing Corner Stars | Dark Mind teleports to the top-left and top-right corners of the screen and prepares two star projectiles that are initially stationary. After some time, these projectiles will eventually fly in at an angle that aims for Kirby's location. | A variation of this attack is also used starting in the third battle, which also has Dark Mind teleporting to the bottom-left and bottom-right corners to add two more stars to the attack. | |
| Used starting with the third battle: | |||
| Fake Out | Sometimes, attempting to attack Dark Mind after he has teleported and has not exposed his weakpoint yet would instead make him shatter into pieces and receive no damage. He will eventually reappear afterwards. | ||
| Horizontal Star Spread | Dark Mind shoots three stars that spread out in an arc from either far side of the screen. | ||
| Vertical Star Spread | Dark Mind shoots five stars that spread out in an downwards arc and travel in a straight angle. | ||
| Used starting with the fourth battle: | |||
| Screen Bomb | A spherical bomb with a checkerboard pattern in the middle is dropped by Dark Mind, before he zooms off the arena leaving two star projectiles of varying colors in his wake. If the bomb is not Super Inhaled or destroyed in time, it will float towards the center of the screen, darken the entire arena, and deal unavoidable damage. | Notably, Stone Kirby does not take damage if he is still in his stone form while the bomb explodes Swallowing the bomb after Super Inhaling it will give the Crash ability. | |
| Star Sweep | Dark Mind moves swiftly across the top of the screen, dropping a rain of falling star projectiles that sweep the entire arena. | ||
| Rapid Teleport Shot | Halfway through the battle, Dark Mind attempts to target Kirby (P1) several times by quickly teleporting around and shooting out one star projectile targeted towards him every time. | ||
| Attack names are conjectural unless stated otherwise. | |||
Second Form
Once Dark Mind's first form is finally defeated after its fourth battle, Dark Mind would appear to be seemingly done for as he explodes in a spectacular fashion while the screen fades to white. However, it instead fades to an ominous arena featuring a scrolling orange sky, and a fiery orange eye would appear to pulsate in the background. This turns out to be Dark Mind's second form as he grows giant and begins attacking the Kirbys once again. Shadow Kirby will appear to toss Meta Knight's sword to Kirby for the Master ability, if he had lost it in the prior battle or midway through this battle.
Kirby must attempt to attack Dark Mind by using Master or any other copy abilities. Attacking his eye only deals small damage and stuns the boss temporarily, but the mirrors that Dark Mind uses in most of his attacks also act as his weak spots and deal large damage to the boss, should Kirby attack them. Kirby must take extra caution when attacking these mirrors, as they may sometimes shatter and shoot out flying cutters that can damage him.
While Kirby cannot simply take damage if he comes in contact in Dark Mind, his mirrors and other attacks are instead the ones that can actually hurt Kirby.
Like his first form, Dark Mind's second form's attacks will become more elaborate and complex to dodge as his health is continuously depleted, with some attacks only appearing after a certain threshold of health has passed. The following table lists all of Dark Mind's attacks when he is fought in his second form:
| Dark Mind (Second Form)'s Attacks in Kirby & The Amazing Mirror | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Attack | Description | Variations | Notes |
| Mirror Spin | Dark Mind will stay in one place, then spin its mirrors around in an attempt to hit Kirby. These mirrors can also be hit with Kirby's attacks to damage Dark Mind. | ||
| Shooter Cutter | If a mirror is shattered during any attack that makes use of Dark Mind's mirrors, it may also release four yellow cutters that fly out in intercardinal directions. | ||
| Laser Rebound | Dark Mind will position its mirrors a few times across the corners of the stage, then shoot a single laser that rebounds off those mirrors. | As the fight progresses, he may increase how many times the laser may ricochet across the arena, by constantly repositioning these mirrors. | |
| Mirror Sweep | Dark Mind will lower itself down to the ground, then move across the stage while spinning its mirrors to attempt to sweep the Kirbys. | In later parts of the fight, there will also be a variation of this move where Dark Mind will also perform this move in the air. | |
| Mirror Zoom | Dark Mind's mirrors will zoom across the arena from the sides, attempting to hit Kirby. This is usually indicated by the mirrors exiting towards the sides off-screen. The last mirror that zooms through the arena will summon various enemies containing Copy Abilities and make them disappear afterward should Kirby not deal with them immediately. | A variation of this attack features two mirrors zooming in onto Kirby in various curved trajectories. | The possible enemies that can be summoned with this attack include the following:
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| Mirror Dance | Starting at roughly 75% of his remaining health, Dark Mind will move up or down while making its mirrors dance in a curved, irregular but symmetrical path. | Another variation of this attack also appears where Dark Mind moves to a side of the arena and perform this attack in one place. | The orientation of where his eye faces is also a good indicator of where this attack may go. |
| Laser Sweep | Dark Mind shoots a big, white vertical laser beam that sweeps across the arena. Once the attack ends, it may leave Drop Stars in its wake. | A variation of this attack is also used starting in the third battle, which also has Dark Mind teleporting to the bottom-left and bottom-right corners to add two more stars to the attack. | Notably, this is among the few attacks that can damage any of the Kirbys by two health points. |
| Laser Quick Shot | Dark Mind shoots quick rounds of laser beams from his eye across several parts of the arena, usually targeting any nearby players. | This is also among the few attacks that can damage any of the Kirbys by two health points. | |
| Screen Bomb | A spherical bomb with a checkerboard pattern in the middle is dropped by Dark Mind before he temporarily disappears off the arena. If the bomb is not Super Inhaled or destroyed in time, it will float towards the center of the screen, darken the entire arena, and deal unavoidable damage. | Like before, Stone Kirby does not take damage if he is still in his stone form while the bomb explodes. Swallowing the bomb after Super Inhaling it will give the Crash ability. | |
| Attack names are conjectural unless stated otherwise. | |||
Final Form
In the final phase, Kirby quickly sees Dark Mind shrink, then fly off. From there, depending on how many Kirbys there are, one to four Warp Stars appear for them to chase Dark Mind down. Once the battle starts, Dark Mind will shoot star-shaped projectiles back or collide into Kirby, similar to the battle with Nightmare's Power Orb in Kirby's Adventure, but vertically-oriented; all Kirby can do is shoot stars back and move around. When Dark Mind's health is depleted, instead of the battle ending right away, the credits start rolling through the screen, and the battle is no longer possible to lose. Instead, a score counter appears which increments each time Kirby lands an additional hit on Dark Mind. Once the credits are done, Dark Mind finally explodes, and another 30 points are added to the counter.
The following table lists all of Dark Mind's attacks in its final form:
| Dark Mind (Final Form)'s Attacks in Kirby & The Amazing Mirror | |
|---|---|
| Attack | Description |
| Star Shot | Dark Mind shoots out several colorful star-shaped projectiles at Kirby. Usually, they are shot out in a rapid-fire manner, and there are variations where Dark Mind can shoot a pair of projectiles instead. |
| Sweep | Dark Mind attempts to sweep downwards into Kirby's Warp Star, usually in a U-shaped arc or in a straight arc. |
| Star Sweep | A variation of Star Shot in which Dark Mind can shoot several rows of star projectiles, which can sweep either a small portion (in threes) or the entirety of the screen, depending on Kirby's progress in this fight. |
| Star Scatter | In a small area, Dark Mind may rapidly shoot five stars of varying speeds down at Kirby. |
| Spreading Star Shot | A variation of Star Shot where Dark Mind shoots three projectiles that spread out downward. |
| Spreading Star Scatter | A combination of Star Scatter and Spreading Star Shot where Dark Mind shoots out a rain of star projectiles that have a fixed fast speed, with some following the closest angles to the target shooting spot in a somewhat widespread arc. |
| Attack names are conjectural unless stated otherwise. | |
Battle with Dark Mind via Warp Star
As the credits roll, Kirby can continue hitting Dark Mind but can no longer lose the battle
Kirby: Squeak Squad
In Kirby: Squeak Squad, Dark Mind appears in one of the Graphics, along with other final bosses.
Kirby: Triple Deluxe
In Kirby: Triple Deluxe, Dark Mind appears as a keychain. Dark Mind's keychain is unique, and can be found in Royal Road - Stage 2.
Team Kirby Clash Deluxe / Super Kirby Clash
In Team Kirby Clash Deluxe and Super Kirby Clash, a set of equipment for Hammer Lord can be acquired which is based on Dark Mind. In addition, the boss King D-Mind serves as a direct homage to Dark Mind.
Kirby Star Allies
In Kirby Star Allies, one of Void's attacks is internally called "Dark Mind Laser", and mimics the way Dark Mind manipulates his mirrors and rebounds lasers off of them in his second phase.
Kirby's Dream Buffet
In Kirby's Dream Buffet, Dark Mind appears on a Character Treat, using his sprite from Kirby & The Amazing Mirror.
Trivia
- Dark Mind's giant eyeball resembles Sauron from the Lord of the Rings series.
- The mask Dark Mind wears resembles Nightmare Wizard, particularly in the large golden horns, long nose, and defined chin. Dark Mind's mask later became the inspiration for Masked Dedede.[1]
Gallery
Sprites
Dark Mind's first form
Dark Mind's second form
Dark Mind's third form
Other
Dark Mind appears in this graphic in Kirby: Squeak Squad (upper-left)
Dark Mind cameos in the "Bad Boss Brothers" Celebration Picture
"Dark Mind Hammer" from Magolor's Shoppe in Super Kirby Clash
"Dark Mind Helmet" from Magolor's Shoppe in Super Kirby Clash
Dark Mind Gear equipment set in Super Kirby Clash
Character Treat from Kirby's Dream Buffet
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | ダークマインド Dāku Maindo |
Dark Mind |
| Chinese | 暗意向[2] Àn Yìxiàng |
Darkness Intention |
| Dutch | Dark Mind | - |
| French | Psychédiablik | Psychediabolic From "psyché" (psyche) and "diabolique" (diabolic), as well as a pun of "psychédélique" (psychedelic) |
| German | Dark Mind | - |
| Italian | Dark Mind | - |
| Korean | 다크 마인드 Dakeu Maindeu |
Dark Mind |
| Portuguese | Mente sombria | Shadow Mind |
| Spanish | Dark Mind | - |
References
- ↑ "Incidentally, the mask's design is a heavily altered version of Dark Mind's mask from Kirby & The Amazing Mirror. If you look reeeeeally closely, you might be able to see the similarities. Some very eagle-eyed players may have noticed already!" –Shinya Kumazaki (Miiverse)
- ↑ Super Kirby Clash
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