King Dedede (novel character)
|
It has been requested that image(s) be uploaded and added to this article. Remove this notice once the image(s) have been uploaded and applied. Missing illustrations from various novels are needed. |
| ||||||||||||||
|
| ||||||||||||||
- This article is about King Dedede as a character in the novels. For King Dedede in the games, see King Dedede.
King Dedede is one of the four primary protagonists of the Kirby novel series, alongside Kirby, Meta Knight, and Waddle Dee. He resides in his castle as the self-proclaimed King of Dream Land, with his often poorly treated servant, Waddle Dee. He is very often willing to get into unnecessary fights with Kirby and other characters. He sometimes gets along particularly well with Kirby when not paying much attention, however, and seems to have a friendship with Meta Knight, despite their many noticeable differences.
King Dedede received his own centered volume—Kirby: King Dedede's Great Escape Mission!—where he took the role of Kirby as the star protagonist instead.
Characteristics[edit]
| “ | The self-indulgent, selfish, self-proclaimed King of Dream Land. He considers Kirby his rival. | ” | — Unofficial translation of King Dedede's description |
King Dedede, identical in appearance to his video game counterpart, is a bottom-heavy, penguin-like entity with a beak for his mouth, a blue body, yellow feet and gloves, defined arms, a red robe with white trimming, a sash across his waist, and a red gilded hat with a pom-pom. He is the self-proclaimed King over Dream Land, prone to being short-tempered, incredibly selfish, and disrespectful. His loyal servant Waddle Dee is usually the primary victim of his unpredictable anger, as well as Kirby, who Dedede treats as his rival, though sometimes as a good friend. He has a large appetite which can almost never be satisfied, much like Kirby, and will go to unnecessary measures to get the precise food he wants. He and Kirby will go far enough as to team up together if the end goal will reward them with food, or in some cases, if the situation is particularly dire. Seemingly, he and Meta Knight are friends with each-other. Not much is known about this friendship, however.
Relationships[edit]
King Dedede's tendency to be unfeeling towards other characters often results in him not getting along well with most characters, and leaving him with few actual friendships. However, a few have chosen to have some type of relationship with him despite this.
- Kirby - King Dedede holds unnecessary aggression towards Kirby, as if he is his rival, often starting fights with him and competing with him. Dedede surprisingly shares many things in common with Kirby, however, and in certain cases gets along with him almost perfectly without complaint. Deep down, he cares for the puffball, and will grow concerned if he gets into any kind of severe danger.
- Waddle Dee - Waddle Dee closely follows Dedede's orders and remains loyal to him through thick and thin. Dedede is very strict with him despite this, and blames him for most problems for nonsensical reasons, causing him to inflict his anger upon Waddle Dee and treat him poorly.
- Meta Knight - The friendship King Dedede has with Meta Knight is very much vague, as very few details are given regarding it. Dedede usually treats the knight disrespectfully like any other, but hints at him being an old friend.
Volume appearances[edit]
The following is a complete list of every appearance King Dedede has made in the Kirby novel series, along with the role he plays and its details in the plot of each volume:
| King Dedede's appearances in the Kirby novel series | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Volume | Image | Role | Role details | Notes |
| Kirby and the Dangerous Gourmet Mansion?! | 
|
Deuteragonist | In this volume, King Dedede is desperate to get into a celebration held by the newcomer to Dream Land, Mrs. Parfaitski, to take part in the feast that will be held during it, but he is not invited, much to his dismay. He then cross-dresses with Kirby as Meta Knight's lady partner and manages to sneak in and feast away in private. Later on, despite being hesitant, he ends up getting caught up in another situation after he tags along with Kirby and Meta Knight to retrieve Mrs. Parfaitski after she is suddenly kidnapped. In the end, Mrs. Parfaitski is returned to her mansion, and the three are rewarded with fruit as a gift from Parfaitski for returning things back to normal. Kirby completely prematurely inhales the fruit, however, and Dedede becomes furious, proceeding to give chase to the puffball. | |
| Kirby and the Big Panic in Gloomy Woods! | 
|
Deuteragonist | In this volume, King Dedede makes use of a newfound card of his to have Chef Kawasaki cook for him nonstop. Randomly during this, he is interrupted by three siblings, Kerota, Keroji, and Kerolina, who need his help to harvest rumored mystical fruits, but have mistaken him for Kirby. He tags along with them, planning to take all of the fruits for himself. After trial and error attempting to make his way to the fruits with the siblings, Kirby and friends come dashing into the scene, and Dedede eventually retreats once his Kirby impersonation scheme is revealed. Dedede meets an old man called the Woodkeeper then after, who accompanies him. Dedede confronts the group later and causes a large fight to break out, and the Woodkeeper steals the source object of the fruits' growth during the distraction, as he was a thief all along. Kirby manages to put a stop to the scheme, and things go back to normal. However, in the end, Dedede gets into serious trouble with Meta Knight after realizing his card from earlier had belonged to the knight the whole time, and that he owes an extremely large amount of money for using it. | |
| Kirby Meets the Squeak Squad! | 
|
Tritagonist | In this volume, King Dedede agrees to help Kirby and Waddle Dee protect an egg they found in an old temple to help its mother bird. When the Squeaks show up and snatch the egg, King Dedede comes in at the last minute, and fights Storo to get him out of Kirby's way. He wins, and ties up Storo. Meta Knight shows up shortly after, and frees Storo. King Dedede is flabbergasted at this and wonders why Meta Knight would ever help thieves like the Squeaks. Later on, Meta Knight comes to Castle Dedede, and the king is angry to see him. Meta Knight assures him that he only wants to clear up a misunderstanding. Before he can explain, a loud crashing sound is heard in the kitchen (which is actually Kirby after tasting a horrible dish that he made). King Dedede assumes that Meta Knight had planted a bomb, and he chases the masked swordsman out of his castle. When the group eventually brings the egg back to the mother bird, King Dedede requests to pick one of her crest feathers. He reveals that he only helped Kirby and Waddle Dee so he could snatch a feather from the rare Dyna Blade to sell it for tons of money. The mother bird informs him that she is actually Acti Blade, and that her crest feathers are worthless, much to the king's dismay. | |
| Kirby: Meta Knight and the Puppet Princess | 
|
Supporting character | In this volume, King Dedede tags along with Meta Knight on his journey to the sweets-filled planet Chiffon Star. Their task is to search for the missing Princess Marona, but Dedede and Kirby are both only focused on all the sweets they'll get to eat. While Meta Knight asks around for details at the castle, Kirby and King Dedede chow down on cakes being served to them, much to Meta Knight's annoyance. The group finds out that the princess was manipulated by Baron Gallic, a villain who uses his powerful Malice Stone to control people. King Dedede is confident that he cannot be controlled, but when Gallic arrives, he is the first to fall under the spell. When the mind-controlled Dedede is about to attack Waddle Dee, he is brought back to his senses when told about what he likes most: food. When Meta Knight sets out to invade Baron Gallic's hideout, he convinces King Dedede and Waddle Dee to stay at the castle to help prepare King Merengue XIII's birthday party. | This is the first novel where King Dedede does not have a major role in the plot. |
| Kirby: Big Race in Pupupu Land! | 
|
Deuteragonist | In this volume, King Dedede hears that a TV production will be filmed in Dream Land. He invites the producer, Kizario, over to his castle to discuss ideas of what it could be. King Dedede wants it to be a show about him. Kizario reveals that it will be a race with challenges along the way, and a splendid prize for the winner. King Dedede is the first contestant to choose a vehicle; he picks the Rex Wheelie, which rushes at an overwhelming speed. Throughout the race, King Dedede thinks the prize will be a three hundred year supply of ramen, and is heavily determined to earn it. He pushes the rules at some of the challenges. In the glass maze, Dedede gets frustrated and smashes through the walls to get through easily. When the contestants must swim through a pool of chocolate, Dedede just eats the chocolate instead. Waddle Dee wins in the end, but King Dedede and the other racers think he is disqualified, and they all angrily demand a reward instead. | |
| Kirby: Big Trouble in Patch Land! | 
|
Tetartagonist | In this volume, King Dedede gets ambushed and captured by Yarn Waddle Dees created by Yin-Yarn inside his castle, and then gets sent to Patch Land. Kirby and Prince Fluff later find him in Snow Land, under Yin-Yarn's control, so Kirby has no choice but to battle him. After he's beaten, Dedede comes back to his senses, and he gets sent to Patch Castle per Fluff's invite, with the help of the Devils. After Kirby and Fluff fix Patch Land, they go to Fluff's castle, and find Dedede giving trouble to the chefs of the castle, demanding food over and over. Hearing that Dream Land was transformed into yarn, Dedede, Kirby, Fluff and Meta Knight go there via a Magic Sock. As they arrive in Dedede's castle, Dedede ends up splitting off from the others to go find and free his Waddle Dees. After he frees them all, he goes back to find Yin-Yarn already defeated, much to his annoyance. | As this volume is an adaptation of Kirby's Extra Epic Yarn, King Dedede's role is largely the same as the one in the game. |
| Kirby: Save the Rainbow Islands! | 
|
Tetartagonist | In this volume, King Dedede comes to the Rainbow Islands to enjoy a beach vacation, and meet Kirby and his friends on the way. They try to warn him about the situation, but Dedede has his mind on the vacation and likes the idea of no rain. When King Dedede reaches the Rainbow Islands, he is distraught by the dryed-up landscape and helps everyone to investigate. After Pick and Mine have made snacks for Pirika, King Dedede wants to have them too, but Pick and Mine block him from taking any. He goes with the others to help Pirika. King Dedede prepares to fight Gooey, but Kirby refuses, and they all flee the battlefield. When King Dedede battles Gooey, he exposes him to Kirby's inhale. After learning that Pirika is the culprit, King Dedede chases her and manages to knock her down. He tries to help Pirika after she pretends to be injured, and she throws him into the lake, turning Dedede into her puppet, which she orders to fight Kirby. King Dedede is defeated due to Gooey's toss and is stuffed into Rick's bag. When he breaks out of the bag, the fight continues. After Kirby inhales all the lake water, King Dedede stops moving. The puppet spell is undone after Pirika's heart has been cleared and King Dedede tries to strike Pirika down. Kirby spins the situation to a game of tag to calm him down. Dedede tries to convince Gooey to not squeeze with them because he can fly, but to no avail. Although being puppeted most of the adventure, Dedede takes all the praises. When the rain return, Dedede is disappointed since it ruined his vacation plans. | |
| Kirby and the Search for the Dreamy Gears! | 
|
Tritagonist | In this volume, King Dedede is called President Dedede. He is the owner of a factory and an airplane pilot, but never won an airplane race against Kirby. He learns about the missing gears from reading the newspaper and tells Daroach the news too. Daroach encourages him to search for the gears, which makes him joins the search. When Magolor visits him and asks him for help with finding the gears, President Dedede agrees. To get the gear at the clock tower, President Dedede flies Magolor with his plane above the tower to let him jump with a parachute and grab the gear. After the gear slips from Magolor's hand and falls on a passing train, he jumps from the plane to the train without a parachute and grabs the gear. Because he stopped flying it, Dedede's plane dives to the ground, making the train stop. The force of the train's stopping hurls Dedede into a river, but luckily, he manages to hold onto the gear. He accidentally gives the gear to Magolor which puts it in the box with the other gears but decided to join the group in taking down Hugo nonetheless. He joins the battle against Hugo's subordinates, but after Waddle Dee is taken hostage, he stops fighting. After reuniting with Waddle Dee, President Dedede pretends to not care about him, but still is exited about his return. In the ending of the story, he almost wins his first race, but Meta Knight's airplane crush into his plane and they both crush to the ground. He and the others go and have cake instead. | This story takes place in an alternate universe. |
Trivia[edit]
- Due to his absence in Kirby Clash Team Unite! and Kirby: Super Team Kirby's Big Battle!, King Dedede is the only main character to not appear in every novel. However, he is always at least mentioned.
Gallery[edit]
Character artwork from Kirby and the Dangerous Gourmet Mansion?!
Character artwork from Kirby and the Big Panic in Gloomy Woods!
Character artwork from Kirby Meets the Squeak Squad!
Character artwork from Kirby: Meta Knight and the Puppet Princess
Character artwork from Kirby: Big Race in Pupupu Land!
Character artwork from Kirby's Labyrinth Rescue!
Character artwork from Kirby's Decisive Battle! Battle Royale!!
Character artwork from Kirby and the Search for the Dreamy Gears!
Character artwork from Kirby: Uproar at the Kirby Café?!
Obi illustration of Kirby and King Dedede from Kirby: King Dedede's Great Escape Mission!
Table of contents artwork from Kirby and the Dangerous Gourmet Mansion?!
Table of contents artwork from Kirby and the Big Panic in Gloomy Woods!
Table of contents artwork from Kirby Meets the Squeak Squad!
Table of contents artwork from Kirby: Meta Knight and the Puppet Princess
Table of contents artwork from Kirby: Big Race in Pupupu Land!
Table of contents artwork from Kirby Star Allies: The Universe is in Trouble?!
Table of contents artwork from Kirby and the Search for the Dreamy Gears!
Names in other languages[edit]
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | デデデ大王 Dedede Daiō |
Great King Dedede |
| French | Roi DaDiDou | King DeDeDe |
