User:Zolerian/Leitmotifs/Kirby Wii

A leitmotif in general is a melody in music that is associated with a character or thing. A game that heavily use leitmotifs is Undertale, and through that its wiki has an article covering the ones of that game, which ended up inspirating a similar article for the Deltarune wiki, and this article will follow the structure of those articles for the lack of a better option. Some places or videos about leitmotifs try to distinguish "mayor" leitmotifs from "minor" ones depending on how much they appear or something. For the purpose of simplicity, this article will be treating every leitmotif equally, and will refer as "a leitmotif" any melody that appears in at least two different songs, be it clearly associated with something or not. I guess that we can shorten "leitmotif" to just "motif", which the Undertale/Deltarune articles do sometimes and I may do so in some cases, but I don't fully know if that is really "correct".

This article is written by me in a not so polite way and in a personal sense like if I was talking to someone else, but if you want to rewrite any description that I have here and essentially structure this article with the general writing style like if it was a mainspace article, you can do so. More so, I request you to do so. Edit this thing in whatever way you want.

I am ordering here the themes just like how Deluxe orders them in its Jukebox, of course also using the names of themes given there. I will be listing each leitmotif here with a three-list structure. First, naming all of the themes that were in the original Kirby Wii. Second, all of the themes that came to be in Deluxe. And third, all of the themes that came to be in another game, or in an album. "Theme", "track" and "song" will be treated as synonyms.

The name of every leitmotif is conjectural, of course. They were arbitrarily given by me based on the theme were it is most notably featured (which is what the Undertale/Deltarune wiki do, and is also how some parts of the Kirby fandom refers to them, so there is some fandom inspiration here) or just by a description that I think fits the leitmotif. I don't really like naming a leitmotif based on the theme where it is heard more notably, because most often that theme has other leitmotifs in it, which is true in this game a lot. But that is still our best option, so I will roll with that. You can change the name of a leitmotif if you want and think that another name fits it better.

The unused earlier versions of themes from the files of the original Kirby Wii are not counted because they all have the same structure as the final ones as far as I know, with only the instruments being changed. The updated versions from Deluxe are not counted separately either because they have even less differences. The one unused theme from the original Kirby Wii is the only exception because it has a mostly original structure instead of resembling the structure of another theme 1:1. The "original short version" of The Adventure Begins present in Triple Deluxe and Star Allies is another exception and will be counted separated from the final version because it has a different structure beyond only changing the instruments, plus that it was officially released, so it will be treated as a rearrangement like the ones that came after Kirby Wii, even if this one probably was composed first.

I REALLY want to stretch that referring to a leitmotif after one song isn't really so good because of two things. One, the song that is used to refer to the motif probably wasn't where the motif originated in development. Two, a song that used the motif isn't necessarily referencing another song, but just the motif in general. For example, people say stuff like "The Adventure Begins contains the Road to Victory leitmotif" but that isn't completely correct because The Adventure Begins isn't "citing" Road to Victory (it is just using the melody in its own original way, not in the way that Road to Victory does so) and that motif may not even originate from Road to Victory (that melody is present in Sky Tower too, and Sky Tower was composed first, so it may originate form that song instead). Still, I don't blame people for saying things like that, because there isn't another option. And for that same reason that is what this article will end up doing, because the leitmotifs themselves have no names. Well, with some exceptions.

Road to Victory

Named after what seems to be one of the first themes composed for the game. Some people, like this video, name it "A Visitor from Afar". This is the first melody in both of those themes so whatever fits. "Sky Tower" was apparently composed first, too, so it may even originate from there.

I heavily consider this as the main theme of the game. It is what is first heard when starting a save file, and (evading some bells that may or may not create a melody) it is also the last thing heard before the credits. It also is what opens the credits theme, and it almost is what closes it. This is in the background of a lot of themes in the game. It is included in remixes of theme that didn't have it originally. This thing is just everywhere. There are other motifs in this game that can be considered as being "the main theme", namely the following three or four in this page, but between all of them, this one clearly has the most spotlight, so it is the primary main one. This also came to be in the first iteration of the whole project and ended up surviving until the end with a lot of appearances. Like come on.

It is heard in all of these:

• "Four Adventurers: Cookie Country" (at the end before it loops)
• "A Visitor from Afar" (at the start) (at 0:30 when the portal from the Lor is opening)
• "The Adventure Begins" (at the end before it loops)
• "Bring On the Super Ability" (at 0:27 when it changes sections) (at 0:35 similar to before) (at the end before it loops)
• "Lor Restored!"
• "Sky Tower" (at the end by trumpets before it loops)
• "Ultra-Super Boss Battle" (rearrangement of "Bring On the Super Ability"; same as there)
• "Road to Victory" (in two sections at the start alternating between the motif) (at the end by chiptune before it loops)
• "C-R-O-W-N-E-D" (between the segments when it plays its original section for the second time at 0:28 and for the fourth time at 1:24) (before it falsely loops at 1:02)
• "Each to His Own World" (2:16)
• "Return to Dream Land" (0:00) (0:49) (1:30) (1:52) (4:05)

From Deluxe:

• "Onward to a Pain My Heart Knows Well" (0:15) (0:24) (0:27 (0:31) (from 0:42 through 0:54) (1:45) (1:49) – Several if not all instances here seem to be referencing its apeparance in "Road to Victory" specifically, as some parts of the structure of this theme references those from "Road to Victory", and the whole section from 0:31 to 1:16 in this theme resembles a whole segment of it.
• "Mistilteinn, Tree Crown without a Ruler" (1:48)

Others are probably missing.

From somewhere else:

• Kirby Wii Music Selection:
  • "Bonus Track: Last Battle" (at the end) – This one is notable because this melody originally wasn't included in any of the theme that this medley remixes, which to me signifies the meaning of this as the "main theme" of the game.

Others are missing, mostly rearrangements.

Interestingly, this isn't present in "The Adventure Begins/Original Short ver.", an apparently early version of "The Adventure Begins" present in Triple Deluxe and Star Allies. This implies that that song wasn't composed with this motif in it originally.

Cookie Country

The first melody heard when opening the game, not counting the Wii Channel jingle, thus counted by some people as one of the main motifs of the game. It is the melody that starts "Four Adventurers: Cookie Country", so it is most often if not always referred to through that theme. A short version of that melody is heard in that song. A longer version instead plays at the second section of "The Adventure Begins", but it is noticeable that they are the overall same motif. Some instances seem to be based on the short version from "Four Adventurers: Cookie Country", while others seem to be based on the long version from "The Adventure Begins". As we know that "The Adventure Begins" has an earlier short version, but "Four Adventurers: Cookie Country" doesn't have an earlier version present anywhere from our knowledge, maybe this actually originated from "The Adventure Begins", but we don't know for sure, and that theme has another leitmotif to call its own.

In:

• "Four Adventurers: Cookie Country"
• "The Adventure Begins" (0:20) (0:32) (1:06)
• "Time for the Results" – Short version similar to the one in "Four Adventurers: Cookie Country"
• "Dangerous Dinner" – Short version similar to the one in "Four Adventurers: Cookie Country"
• "Let Me Explain Everything" (0:14)
• "Fly, Kirby!" (0:50)
• "The Victor Shines" (rearrangement of "Time for the Results"; same as there)
• "C-R-O-W-N-E-D" (0:40) (1:36)
• "Each to His Own World" (0:49) (2:04)
• "Return to Dream Land" (0:18) (0:52) (2:06) (3:12)

From Deluxe:

From somewhere else:

The Adventure Begins

"The Adventure Begins", the theme, has three leitmotifs in it, maybe four. The first leitmotif of that theme is what this section is about, but after this one there are several other ones, like the first two covered above. Now this is why I don't like to refer to leitmotifs after themes, but whatever. This is what begins "The Adventure Begins" so we'll go with that. This one also has a good record of appearances so it can be treated as a main motif of this game.

Appears in:

• "A Visitor from Afar" (0:54)
• "The Adventure Begins" (used in several instances through the whole theme, including in the background when other motif is playing, so not worthy of pointing out the specific I think)
• "Halcandra: A New Enemy" (0:40)
• "Sounds of Scrap" (most of the former half of the song is formed by it) (it later plays at the end just before it loops with background crap-like noises)
• "Dangerous Dinner" (0:15)
• "Let Me Explain Everything" (0:05)
• "Once Cleared, the Fun Begins" (most of the former half of the song is formed by it)
• "C-R-O-W-N-E-D" (after it plays its original section for the first time at 0:25 and for the third time at 1:21)
• "Each to His Own World" (0:42) (1:30) (1:57) (maybe the bells at 2:33 too?)
• "Return to Dream Land" (1:34) (1:53) (1:59) (2:59) (3:25)

From Deluxe:

From somewhere else:

Bring on the Super Ability

This appears more noticeable as second sections in both "Sky Tower" and "Road to Victory", and thus might originate from either of them. But it is what "Bring on the Super Ability" is primarily made of, so it is more sane to name it after that song.

So in:

• "A Visitor from Afar" (1:45)
• "Bring on the Super Ability" (0:05 and continues through most of it)
• "Sky Tower" (0:23)
• "Ultra-Super Boss Battle" (rearrangement of "Bring On the Super Ability"; same as there)
• "Final Battle" (rearrangement of "Bring On the Super Ability"; same as there)
• "Road to Victory" (0:28)
• "Final Battle EX" (rearrangement of "Bring On the Super Ability"; same as there)
• "Return to Dream Land" (1:18) (2:37)

From Deluxe:

From somewhere else:

Magolor, the Far-Flung Traveler

We can basically point out three things of this theme in relation to other ones. One, thanks to recurring appearances of this theme in other games, we know that this is more specifically the theme of Magolor, although its use in the original Kirby Wii is most often as a general main motif not always associated with him. Two, that we can basically track every appearance of the motif to one original track, to "Magolor, the Far-Flung Traveler" specifically. And three, that this motif is composed of two melodies. I guess that we could count these as two separate motifs as sometimes they appear without the other, but both seem to refer to the overall "Magolor, the Far-Flung Traveler" track. Thus, I will count the appearances of the two melodies separately, but both as being part of the same leitmotif.

First melody

Heard in:

• "A Visitor from Afar" (0:13) (1:38) (1:57) (2:09)
• "Magolor, the Far-Flung Traveler" (0:00) (0:25)
• "The Adventure Begins" (0:29) (1:15) – Here the part of the motif that is used is the last one, see more specifically the part at 0:35 in "Magolor, the Far-Flung Traveler".
• "The Lor Starcutter Reborn" (0:05)
• "Halcandra: A New Enemy" (0:43) (1:38)
• "VS Mecha Kawasaki" (0:25)
• "Let Me Explain Everything" (0:21) (0:31)
• "C-R-O-W-N-E-D" (0:53) (1:46 similar to the previous one but much shorter, as it gets interrupted by the "Kirby's Triumphant Return" motif)
• "Each to His Own World" (1:43)
• "Return to Dream Land" (2:18) (2:53)

From Deluxe:

From somewhere else:

Second melody

Heard in:

• "Magolor, the Far-Flung Traveler" (0:13)
• "C-R-O-W-N-E-D" (as the intro, doesn't appear again when it loops)

From Deluxe:

From somewhere else:

Ominous cutscene motif

• "A Visitor from Afar*" (0:37)
• "Halcandra: A New Enemy*" (0:50)

Curious cutscene motif

• "A Visitor from Afar*" (1:05)
• "Halcandra: A New Enemy*" (1:16)

Advancement cutscene motif

I don't know is these are all the same one or if this is actually two. Compare the ones in "Final Battle*" and "Final Battle EX*" to see what I mean.

• "Halcandra: A New Enemy*" (0:05) (0:29)
• "Let Me Explain Everything*" (1:47)
• "Final Battle*" (0:29)
• "Final Battle EX*" (0:46)
• "Each to His Own World*" (0:29)
• "Return to Dream Land" (0:29) (1:04) (3:59)

For some reason this is also used in "Bonus Track: Last Battle" from Kirby Wii Music Selection when CROWNED is ending, in a way that seems like if that melody was a normal part of CROWNED. It appears at 4:37 but then it is heard more at 4:44 because trumpets.

Underground motif

In four themes that are underground based, two of them notably very related to Egg Engines:

• "Rocky Area*"
• "Eerie Area*" (by that echo sound at the beginning)
• "Steel Hometown"
• "Underworld"

Weird second section motif

I am sorry but there is no other way to name this. You may want to see this and this yes.

The main melody pains in:

• "Over the Hills" (and its early version)
• "Undersea Walk" (and its early version)
• "Slide Area*" (and its early version)
• "A unused theme"
• "Yin-Yarn" from Kirby's Epic Yarn
• "Mega Yin-Yarn*" from Kirby's Epic Yarn

The intro appears in:

• "Over the Hills"
• "Onion Ocean"
• "A unused theme"

Another Dimension

A segment of "Another Dimension" is used in "Under My Control", that's it.