Upper Calibur
Upper Calibur is an attack used by Meta Knight and similar knight bosses, which is first introduced in Kirby Star Allies.
Overview
Charging is required to use Upper Calibur. As its name suggests, Upper Calibur starts with an upper slash after releasing the charge. If the upper catches any opponent, the user will then perform a series of quick aerial slashes to the target(s), and finish by slamming them onto the ground with a heavy slash. If the upper misses, this attack will stop immediately.
The upper cannot be blocked by normal ways of guard. In Version 4.0.0 of Kirby Star Allies, the upper can be blocked by some Copy Abilities/allies with special guard including Ice, Spider, Rick & Kine & Coo, Gooey, Dark Meta Knight, Magolor and Taranza. Prior to Version 4.0.0, the upper could not be guarded by any means.
The final slam always deals damage but the upper doesn't. Whether the aerial slashes do damage depends on the user.
Users
Meta Knight
Upper Calibur was first used by Meta Knight as a boss at Sacred Square in Kirby Star Allies. In his version, the aerial slashes don't do damage, and the final slam does low damage.
Morpho Knight
When Morpho Knight uses Upper Calibur, it may teleport before the upper.
In normal Morpho Knight's version, like Meta Knight's, the aerial slashes don't do damage, and the final slam does low damage.
In Morpho Knight EX's version, the aerial slashes do damage, and the final slam does medium damage, the total damage being about 40% of Kirby's maximum health. Morpho Knight EX may also use Upper Calibur as one of his possible Counter attacks (similar to Meta Knight the Dream Friend's and Parallel Meta Knight's Galactic Counter).
Dark Meta Knight
Dark Meta Knight can use his own version called Dark Calibur as a Dream Friend, its command being "Press and hold B, and then release + ↑".
Dark Meta Knight's version functions basically the same as Meta Knight's version but with a few differences: While the upper can catch most common enemies, it does not catch mid-bosses or bosses; instead, when the upper connects to a boss, he will still perform the aerial slashes in the fixed area, but they will stop immediately when the boss leaves the aerial slashes' hitboxes. During Dark Calibur, the upper and the aerial slashes both do damage, and Dark Meta Knight is invincible during the whole attack.
Like most of Dark Meta Knight's moves, Dark Calibur can be granted elemental powers. Notably, if he's given the Bluster element, Dark Calibur will be performed in a similar way to Mach Tornado as he does aerial spin slashes instead.
Parallel Meta Knight
Parallel Meta Knight, who can be considered the EX version of the boss Meta Knight in Kirby Star Allies, has a souped-up version of Upper Calibur. In his version, the aerial slashes do damage, and the final slam does high damage, the total damage being about 70% of Kirby's maximum health, which is even higher than Morpho Knight EX's version.
Trivia
- Despite being named internally in the game files and officially in Japanese guidebooks, Upper Calibur is not named in the localization of Kirby Star Allies.
- Based on Dark Calibur's Chinese translation, Upper Calibur's name may originate from Excalibur, the legendary sword.
- Upper Calibur is similar to some Final Smashes from the Super Smash Bros. series, notably Ike's Great Aether and Cloud's Omnislash.
- In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Meta Knight has received a new Final Smash, Darkness Illusion, in which he begins with an electric Up Thrust (similar to the Up Thrust of Zap Sword Meta Knight from Kirby Star Allies), then does a series a quick aerial slashes, and finishes by knocking the opponents horizontally instead.
Names in other languages
Upper Calibur
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | アッパーキャリバー Appā Kyaribā |
Upper Calibur |
Dark Calibur
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | ダークキャリバー Dāku Kyaribā |
Dark Calibur |
| Traditional Chinese | 闇霸者劍 àn bà zhě jiàn |
Dark Calibur
|
| Simplified Chinese | 暗霸者剑 àn bà zhě jiàn | |
| Dutch | Duistere Calibur | Dark Calibur |
| French | Calibur noir | Dark Calibur |
| German | Dunkelcalibur | Dark Calibur |
| Italian | Calibur oscura | Dark Calibur |
| Spanish | Calibur oscura | Dark Calibur |
