Meta Knight

"Victory is my destiny."

- Meta Knight

Meta Knight is a recurring anti-hero character in the Kirby series, making his debut in Kirby's Adventure. He always wears his metal mask in his series, and usually appears as an antagonist or a boss Kirby must fight, but on occasions has had to team up with him. He and Captain Vul are captains of the Halberd ship. In certain games, after Meta Knight is defeated, his mask splits into two, revealing a face near identical to Kirby's; the main difference being his blue skin tone. He made a crossover debut into the Mario franchise as a fighter in the game Super Smash Bros. Brawl, where his ship, the Halberd, also appears as a stage.

Super Smash Bros. Melee
Although he does not appear as a playable character, Meta Knight has a trophy in Super Smash Bros. Melee, which can be randomly obtained. The trophy's title says Meta-Knight, referring to the group rather than the individual.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Meta Knight appears as a playable fighter in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. He is a small, quick fighter with fast yet weak attacks. Like in the Kirby series, Meta Knight's cape can transform into a pair of wings which not only grant him multiple jumps but also the ability to glide. His ship, the Halberd, also appears as a stage. Meta Knight's voice actor from the Kirby anime series, Atsushi Kisaichi, provides Meta Knight's voice in the Japanese version Super Smash Bros. Brawl, while Eric Newsome, who did Bowser's voice in Super Paper Mario, voices him in other versions.

Meta Knight's special moves are mostly based on attacks that appear in the Kirby series, his own or otherwise. His neutral special is Mach Tornado, which causes Meta Knight to spin around rapidly to deal damage. His side special is Drill Rush, in which Meta Knight charges forward in a spinning motion. His up special is Shuttle Loop, in which he loops around before flying directly up, dealing two hits afterward. His down special is Dimensional Cape, in which Meta Knight teleports and can attack by holding the button. His Final Smash is Galaxia Darkness, in which Meta Knight traps opponents by swiping his cape then deals a large sword swipe.

The Subspace Emissary
Meta Knight's story starts before the events of the actual game, trying to defend the Halberd from Master Hand and the Subspace Army, but was unwittingly prevented from doing as such by King Dedede. His actual first appearance is when he runs into Marth, who is investigating the activity going on in the Battlefield Fortress. After a brief duel, they team up to take on the Subspace Army. Afterwards, they are chasing the Ancient Minister when Ike shows up to disarm the Subspace Bomb the Minister had been carrying.

Meta Knight, Marth, and Ike ultimately lose the Ancient Minister near the edge of the Wilds, but they find Galleom in the middle of the desert. After it is defeated, Galleom goes to the Ruined Hall and comes out holding Lucas and the Pokémon Trainer in one hand, with a Subspace Bomb about to go off in its head. Although Lucas manages to free himself and the Trainer, Meta Knight saves them when they almost hit the ground.

Meta Knight finally finds the Halberd fighting the Great Fox above the Glacial Peak, and leaves his team behind to climb the mountain. As he does this, however, the Ice Climbers race him and beat him to the top. At the summit, Meta Knight discovers the Aura Pokémon Lucario, who challenges him to a duel. The duel ends, the loser gets turned into a trophy and the winner taps on the trophy base to recover him.

After the battle, Meta Knight and Lucario agree to team up and enter the Halberd, where they find Solid Snake thanks to the use of Lucario's Aura. The three of them rescue Princess Peach and Princess Zelda from their evil counterparts before heading to the cockpit to find many Mr. Game & Watches controlling the Halberd. Lucario and Snake take care of them while Meta Knight takes the Halberd back.

Eventually, Meta Knight goes into Subspace with everyone else, although the Halberd is destroyed by the Subspace Gunship as they do this. They find Tabuu, who fires his Off Waves at them and turns them into trophies. Kirby, however, is revived by one of King Dedede's badges and saves Meta Knight along with some of the others before going into the Great Maze to stop Tabuu.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U
Meta Knight returns as a playable character for Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U. He, along with other winged characters, can no longer glide, either normally or at the end of Shuttle Loop, though Shuttle Loop now hits twice instead. Aside from this, however, Meta Knight's moveset has not been changed. His design has been slightly altered for this installment, giving him metal gauntlets over his gloves.

One of Kirby's alternative palettes is identical to what Meta Knight looks like without his mask (though the palette has yellow eyes), armor and cape in the early Kirby games. In addition, two of Meta Knight's new alternate costumes are based on Dark Meta Knight and Galacta Knight.

Snake's codec

 * Snake: Mei Ling, there's a mysterious masked man flying around here with a sword...
 * Mei Ling: That's Meta Knight. He's a knight from Dream Land. They say his sword swings can break the sound barrier. Whatever you do, don't get caught in one of his furious barrage attacks. He also commands the Halberd, a flying battleship.
 * Snake: Mm, I've seen it. The bow looks like his mask. What kind of weirdo puts his face on the bow of a ship, anyway?
 * Mei Ling: Umm, maybe he's a little narcissistic. Kind of like someone else I know.
 * Snake: Really... And who would that be?
 * Mei Ling: Use your imagination...

Palutena's Guidance

 * Pit: I wonder what Meta Knight looks like under that mask.
 * Viridi: Apparently quite similar to Kirby.
 * Pit: If he took off his mask, could he inhale things too?
 * Viridi: Maybe. And maybe he has Kirby's Copy Ability as well.
 * Pit: So if a maskless Meta Knight copied a masked Meta Knight...
 * Viridi: Well, then he'd just be back where he started.
 * Palutena: Anyway, be careful of his quick blade and his spinning attacks. They don't have a lot of power, so use your shield until you see an opening.

Quotes

 * "Fight me." - ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl
 * "Come!" - ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl
 * "Come back when you can put up a fight." - ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl
 * "You have much yet to learn." - ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl
 * "Know my power!" - ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl
 * "Behold!" - ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl
 * "Victory… is my destiny." - ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Trivia

 * Meta Knight is also in both versions of Nintendo Monopoly, where he takes the position of St. Charles Place, and costs $140.
 * In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Meta Knight is the only character who does not share a victory theme with the other characters from his series. In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U, other characters shared this trait as well, such as Bowser, Rosalina and Dark Pit.
 * Meta Knight is the only Kirby series character in the Super Smash Bros. series that speaks in full dialogue. In addition, Super Smash Bros. Brawl is the first game in which Meta Knight has a voice actor.