HR-D3
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- This article is about the giant robot that appears in Kirby's Return to Dream Land. For its appearance in Kirby Mass Attack, see Dedede Robo.
- This article is about the giant robot piloted by Metal General EX in Kirby's Return to Dream Land, and should not be confused with HR-H from Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards.
| “ | An ancient war machine that somehow drifted into this universe from another dimension. What a dream battle! | ” | — Vs. HR-D3 Special Page in Kirby's Return to Dream Land |
| “ | Drawn by the mechanical energy here, this ancient war machine crossed time and space through an interdimensional tunnel. Get ready for a dream battle with a king-sized warrior of steel! | ” | — VS HR-D3 Special Page in Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe |
HR-D3 is an extra-large robot boss which appears in Kirby's Return to Dream Land's Extra Mode. It is based on Dedede Robo, which appeared in Kirby Mass Attack's Sub-Game Kirby Quest and was originally planned to appear in Kirby for Nintendo GameCube. HR-D3 and Dedede Robo were initially considered to be the same entity, but a Dedede Directory on the Kirby JP Twitter confirmed them as separate (image in gallery below). HR-D3 is piloted by Metal General EX after he is defeated in Egg Engines, and serves as a secret extra boss encounter. It is also fought in The True Arena.
Description
HR-D3 is a giant robot that greatly resembles King Dedede. It is balanced on a piston, so it primarily jumps around as its main form of movement. It has one robotic hand, with the other hand being a power drill. It has lasers within its "eyes," a pilot's seat within its "head," and a huge beam cannon within its "mouth." In its original incarnation as Dedede Robo, it was painted in King Dedede's color scheme and had his signature V-sign insignia on its chest; as HR-D3, it has the red-and-silver color scheme of Metal General EX, with an insignia resembling the general on its chest. Metal General EX pilots HR-D3 from inside its head casing, though it seems to be capable of at least limited autonomous movement as well.
Game appearances
Kirby's Return to Dream Land / Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe
In Kirby's Return to Dream Land HR-D3 appears in Extra Mode and can be fought again in The True Arena, and in the former it is fought directly after Metal General EX at the end of Egg Engines. If the fight with HR-D3 is lost, Metal General EX's fight is automatically skipped so the player can try again, though losing a life on the second stage of HR-D3's battle restarts at its first stage. HR-D3's pause screen description calls it "an ancient war machine" that "drifted in from another dimension," which is likely a reference to Another Dimension, but could also reference its origins in the canceled GameCube game.
Attacks
HR-D3 fights in two phases, with two separate health bars. The following are the attacks in the first phase:
| Attacks - Phase 1 | |
|---|---|
| Attack | Description |
| Drill & Punch | HR-D3 slams its fist and drill into the stage, in either order, creating stars on each impact. This is one of the few opportunities to hit it during this phase.
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| Missile Barrage | Metal General EX opens the headpiece, and fires a great many missiles to carpet-bomb the stage. These can be swallowed for the Bomb ability.
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| Laser Sweep | HR-D3's eyes glow and lasers sweep the stage from the middle outward.
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| Spin Attack | HR-D3 spins around with its arms stretched out, covering much of the stage. It is possible, but difficult, to hit it during this attack.
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In the second phase, a new health bar must be depleted, and HR-D3 attacks on the stage itself, taking up a great deal of space as it does so:
| Attacks - Phase 2 | |
|---|---|
| Attack | Description |
| Drill & Punch | HR-D3 attempts to punch or drill in front of it, proving effective if it has Kirby cornered.
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| Laser Sweep & Missile Barrage | HR-D3 flies into the background, its eyes glow and lasers sweep the stage from the middle outward, while Metal General EX fires a great many missiles to carpet-bomb the stage. These can be swallowed for the Bomb ability.
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| Bouncing Strike | HR-D3 bounces across the stage, creating stars whenever it hits the ground.
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| Body Slam | HR-D3 will jump into a body slam if it has Kirby cornered. Kirby has this opportunity to try and get away. This move creates stars on impact.
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| Mega Laser Cannon | HR-D3's mouth opens up, and will fire a massive beam diagonally downward onto the stage, proving effective if Kirby is cornered. It leaves stars where the beam hits.
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| Spin Attack | HR-D3 spins around with its arms stretched out, covering much of the stage.
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As HR-D3 takes damage, it loses pieces, eventually ending up as a barely functioning skeleton near the end of the fight. Defeating it destroys its essential components, and causes it to fall backwards and explode with Metal General EX inside.
For the first phase of the fight, Grand Doomer's battle theme is used. For the second phase, the music switches to "Four-Headed Guardian Angel: Landia".
Trivia
- In Kirby's Return to Dream Land, unused textures relating to King Dedede can be found within HR-D3's files. These textures do not match with King Dedede's final model, so they are most likely left over from Kirby for Nintendo GameCube.[1]
- In a Dedede Directory post about HR-H, Dedede mentions that there are robots in the same series that look like him, and that he's glad they have the same transformation feature, likely referring to HR-D3. He also refers to them as "the robots" in plural, which could mean that there are multiple instances of HR-D3 (perhaps explaining how HR-D3 ended up in Metal General EX's control).[2]
Gallery
Model from Kirby's Return to Dream Land
Extra Mode credits picture from Kirby's Return to Dream Land, featuring Ninja Kirby and Meta Knight facing an exposed HR-D3
Dedede Directory about various Dedede Mechs, featuring HR-D3
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | HR - D3 |
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| French | HR-D3 | - |
| German | HR-D3 | - |
| Italian | HR-D3 | - |
| Korean | HR-D3 |
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| Spanish | HR-D3 | - |
References
- ↑ Kirby's Return to Dream Land - The Cutting Room Floor
- ↑ "シリーズに登場するオレさま似のロボたちにも、変形機能があっても良かったな！" –King Dedede (Kirby JP Twitter)
(Translation: "It's nice that the robots in this series who look like me also got that neat transformation feature!")
