King Dedede (anime character): Difference between revisions

{{Featured}}{{title font|#F9D275|#EF1209}}{{Infobox-AnimeCharacter

|image=[[File:Anime King Dedede Artwork.png|250px]]

|caption=Artwork of '''King Dedede''' from ''[[Kirby: Right Back at Ya!]]''.

|role=Leading character and secondary villain

|other=[[King Dedede|his video game counterpart]]<br>[[King Dedede (novel character)|his novel counterpart]]

{{Quote|I'll show them kids! If I can't earn respect, I'll just buy it...from Night Mare Enterprises!|'''King Dedede'''}}

'''King Dedede''' is one of the principal characters and supporting villains of the anime series ''[[Kirby: Right Back at Ya!]]''. He is a large blue portly bird-like man who proclaims himself the king of [[Dream Land (anime)|Dream Land]] and resides with his court in [[Castle Dedede]]. He claims jurisdiction and authority over the people of [[Cappy Town]], but they often ignore him in this regard. This behavior prompts Dedede to try and force their attention by calling [[monster]]s into Dream Land using the [[Night Mare Enterprises]] monster delivery system, though placing him in perpetual debt to N.M.E. in the process while his monsters are bested by [[Kirby (anime character)|Kirby]].

 

King Dedede is voiced by Ted Lewis in the English dub of the show and by Kenichi Ogata in the original Japanese version. In the Japanese version, he often ends his sentences with "zoi", which does not actually mean anything.

 

King Dedede appears mainly the same as he does in the games; with a large, round belly, blue body and eyes, yellow feet, defined arms, a beak, a red robe, a gilded hat topped with a puffball, and an ''[[wikipedia:obi (sash)|obi]]'' across his belly, which in this instance, is slightly wider to cover up more of his waist. He does not wear the beige kimono that King Dedede from the game series wears in later installments. King Dedede is also not typically seen with his hammer, though he can pull it out whenever he gets sufficiently angry. As expected in a cartoon series, King Dedede is quite expressive, though this usually manifests in outrage or gloating.

King Dedede is defined by his vanity, selfishness, greed, and ignorance. Nearly every problem in Dream Land is caused by him in some form or another, as he pursues his whims and ambitions to the detriment of his subjects' well-being. Despite his well-known intemperance, King Dedede manages to hold on to a vast fortune which he uses to maintain his castle and purchase equipment and monsters from [[Night Mare Enterprises]], though it is strongly implied that he would go bankrupt if he were ever forced to pay his debt to N.M.E. in full. King Dedede's attention is often focused on efforts to get rid of [[Kirby (anime character)|Kirby]] however he can, as Dedede is intensely jealous of the pink [[Star Warrior]] and continually outraged at the puffball often foiling his plans to ruin Dream Land in one way or another. However, due to his incompetence, he always ends up failing either partially or completely at whatever scheme he is pursuing.

 

King Dedede has a short temper, which causes him to regularly abuse his closest assistant [[Escargoon]]. Despite this abuse, Escargoon is the only character who is willing to stand close to him under normal circumstances. Dedede is also defined by his bad habits, particularly when it comes to overeating and dental hygiene, which comes to haunt him in [[A Dental Dilemma]]. Despite his royal status, he is not above screaming or bawling like a toddler when the situation encourages it. Despite all his bad qualities, King Dedede does have a softer side, which sometimes comes out when greater threats comes to Dream Land; a prime example being in [[Prediction Predicament - Part II]] where he decides to build Kirby and the Cappy kids a playground before the world ends.

One of King Dedede's more notable personality traits is his extraordinary ignorance. In several episodes — such as [[A Novel Approach]] — it is shown that King Dedede cannot read, which acts as a point of embarrassment for the King, though this is not always a consistent trait of his. He is also shown to be very bad at math, as in [[eNeMeE Elementary]], he cannot solve the equation "1 + 1" without assistance from Escargoon. An explanation for this lack of knowledge appears in the episode [[Teacher's Threat]], where [[Mr. Chip]] examines an X-ray image of King Dedede's head showing there to be no brain inside his skull. Furthermore, in the series' English dub, he speaks with a pronounced [[wikipedia:Drawl#Southern drawl|Southern drawl]] and has a habit of using [[wikipedia:malapropism|malapropisms]] (mistaking similar words) and [[wikipedia:neologism|neologisms]] (creating new words altogether), which is likely meant to serve as a sign of his inadequate vocabulary.

*[[Kirby (anime character)|Kirby]] - Kirby is the primary target of King Dedede's ire throughout the series, as the king constantly tries to dispatch monsters from N.M.E. to get rid of him. It becomes clear throughout the series that the main reason for this is because King Dedede is intensely jealous of Kirby's power and relationships, and sometimes, even he is moved by Kirby's carefree child-like nature. Kirby in return does not mind King Dedede much, despite being attacked by him constantly.

*[[Meta Knight (anime character)|Meta Knight]] - King Dedede views Meta Knight as an incompetent soldier due to his perceived inability to deal with Kirby, and as such, often disregards him. Meta Knight in return has no respect for the king, but enjoys his ability to operate under the king's radar.

*[[Waddle Dee (anime character)|Waddle Dees]] - Despite the king's cruelty, the Waddle Dees of the castle work tirelessly to tend to his every need in exchange for having a place to live. King Dedede comes to realize their importance after he sells them all off to help pay his debt to [[Night Mare Enterprises]] in the episode [[Waddle While You Work]].

*[[Cappy (anime)|Residents of]] [[Cappy Town]] - The inhabitants of Cappy Town are always wary of King Dedede's abusive behavior and openly defy him on many occasions despite his threats. Instead of their supposed king, Cappy Town's people consult with the great [[Kabu (anime character)|Kabu]] for leadership and guidance.

*[[N.M.E. Sales Guy]] - King Dedede is tied down by [[Night Mare Enterprises]] due to an enormous debt he owes them from all the monsters he ordered. The Sales Guy in particular seeks only to worsen this situation by buttering the king up with new monster deals, with no compassion toward Dedede's predicament, often directly mocking him when the monsters don't perform as Dedede had hoped.

 

 

 

Despite his villainous nature, King Dedede is often shown to be sympathetic, as he suffers greatly as the result of his failed plans and relationships, and sometimes due to sheer dumb luck. Due to his actions, he is also reviled by basically everyone else in the show, not the least of which being his assistant Escargoon. As the show progresses, however, he gradually eases his attempts to attack Kirby, and eventually admits in [[D'Preciation Day]] that he has a soft spot for the pink puffball, due to making life in the kingdom more interesting for him. He also has a few genuinely admirable moments, most notably in the episode [[Prediction Predicament - Part II]] where, after a change of heart, Dedede charitably builds a playground for the children of Cappy Town. Although he never fully changes into a protagonist, he is effectively neutralized after the events of [[Fright to the Finish]], as his main method of causing mischief by calling monsters from N.M.E is taken from him when the aforementioned company is destroyed.

{{main|King Dedede (anime character)/filmography}}

King Dedede appears in all 100 main episodes of ''Kirby: Right Back at Ya!'', along with the [[Kirby of the Stars Pilot]] and [[Kirby 3D]]. For a full list of his appearances and role in each one, see [[King Dedede (anime character)/filmography|this page]].

*In the Japanese version of [[Curio's Curious Discovery]], Escargoon mentions that King Dedede "has been on the throne for 300 years and is the 17,052nd king of [[Dream Land (anime)|Dream Land]]", though this claim is very dubious.

*The [[N.M.E. Sales Guy]] has several pet names for King Dedede. These include, but are not limited to: "Triple D", "Three D", "D-Man", "D-Meister", or simply "D".

*King Dedede is one of the five recurring characters who appears in every episode of the main anime series. The other four are [[Kirby (anime character)|Kirby]], [[Tiff]], [[Tuff]], and [[Escargoon]].

*In the Japanese version of the anime, it is repeatedly mentioned that King Dedede uses his own currency, "deden" (a parody of yen, the Japanese standard currency), which is used for all of his transactions with Night Mare Enterprises. The currency is mentioned less often in the English dub, and its name is variably translated as "dede-dollars" or "D-bills".

 

KRBaY King Dedede artwork 7.png|King Dedede with a cane

KRBaY Parasol Kirby and King Dedede artwork.png|King Dedede being balanced by [[Parasol]] [[Kirby (anime character)|Kirby]]

KRBaY website Kihon wa Maru chalk Dedede artwork.png|A chalk outline of King Dedede's head from [[Kihon wa Maru]]

KRBaY website Kihon wa Maru Dedede artwork.png|King Dedede's head, as seen in Kihon wa Maru

KRBAY Stars Poster.png|Promotional poster showing various characters

Anime Promo Poster.jpg|Promotional poster in Japan, featuring the main cast in Dream Land

KRBaY Kirby group art fighter 1.jpg|Promotional artwork featuring King Dedede

KRBaY Kirby group art water.jpg|Promotional artwork featuring King Dedede

KRBaY Kirby group art wheel.jpg|Promotional artwork featuring King Dedede

Kirby freezing Dedede KRBaY art.jpg|Promotional artwork featuring King Dedede

KRBaY Kirby coloring page.jpg|Coloring page from promotional Fox Box CD-ROM

 

<gallery>

KRBaY King Dedede character sheet 1.png|Animator sheet showing front and side views

KRBaY King Dedede character sheet 2.png|Animator sheet showing the back view

KRBaY King Dedede character sheet 3.png|Animator sheet showing various dynamic poses

KRBaY King Dedede character sheet 4.png|Animator sheet showing various facial expressions

KRBaY King Dedede character sheet 5.png|Animator sheet showing eye movement

KRBaY King Dedede character sheet 6.png|Animator sheet showing mouth movement

KRBaY King Dedede character sheet 7.png|Animator sheet showing Dedede with his hammer

KRBaY King Dedede character sheet 8.png|Animator sheet showing even more facial expressions

KRBaY Armored Vehicle character sheet 1.png|Animator sheet showing the [[Armored Vehicle]] (front, side, and angled views)

KRBaY Armored Vehicle character sheet 2.png|Animator sheet showing the Armored Vehicle (top, bottom, and back views)

KRBaY height character sheet 1.png|Height comparison of principal characters (Kirby alongside the court of [[Castle Dedede]])

</gallery>

 

<gallery>

King Dedede Feast.png|King Dedede having a typical dinner at his castle

King Dedede Proposal.png|King Dedede attempting to swoon the fake [[Princess Rona]] in [[A Princess in Dis-Dress]]

Turkey Dedede.png|King Dedede as he appears to Kirby while overdosed on Gijira Extract

E39 Scene 1.png|King Dedede ordering a monster from the N.M.E. monster catalogue

E42 Scene 19.png|King Dedede and Escargoon embracing before the world ends in [[Prediction Predicament - Part II]]

E42 Scene 26.png|King Dedede and Kirby having a sentimental moment in [[Prediction Predicament - Part II]]

E45 Scene 5.png|King Dedede being tended to by Waddle Dees with fans

Stylized Dedede.png|Oddly-detailed drawing of King Dedede from the cartoon in [[Cartoon Buffoon]]

E50 Scene 20.png|King Dedede suffering a similar fate as one of his [[Dedede Doll]]s in [[Don't Bank on It]]

E52 Scene 11.png|King Dedede frequently throws immature fits or tantrums unfitting of a king.

Spaced-out Dedede.png|King Dedede under the effects of [[Togeira]]'s siphoning of his anger

E55 Scene 19.png|King Dedede in a berserk state after Togeira hits its limit

E59 Scene 23.png|King Dedede being attacked by one of his own monsters

E61 Scene 18.png|King Dedede being propped up by his Waddle Dees after getting morbidly obese off of potato chips

E72 Scene 20.png|King Dedede is reduced to begging for hospitality when he sells all of his Waddle Dees.

E72 Scene 29.png|An ungrateful King Dedede is rescued by his Waddle Dees.

E75 Scene 9.png|King Dedede dreaming he is riding fire-breathing dinosaurs

E78 Scene 20.png|King Dedede seeing through one of Escargoon's ruses

E80 Scene 20.png|King Dedede crashes hard during a party broadcast fueled by Pump-Up D.

E83 Scene 12.png|An x-ray showing King Dedede's empty skull

E93 Scene 26.png|King Dedede showing a rare moment of genuine appreciation for Kirby

E95 Scene 23.png|King Dedede possessed by the [[Demon Frog]]

E100 Scene 8.png|King Dedede and Escargoon being mind-controlled by eNeMeE

</gallery>

 

PlushDedede.jpg|Plushie based off his anime appearance

[[Category:Villains]]