Meta Knight

For fighter info, see Meta Knight (SSBB), Meta Knight (SSB4), Meta Knight (SSBU).

Meta Knight
Meta Knight Official artwork of Meta Knight from Kirby Star Allies.
Universe	Kirby
Debut	Kirby's Adventure (1993)
Smash Bros. appearances	Melee Brawl SSB4 Ultimate
Most recent non-Smash appearance	Kirby Star Allies (2018)
Console/platform of origin	Nintendo Entertainment System
Species	Unknown (often speculated to be the same as Kirby's)
Gender	Male
Place of origin	Dream Land
Created by	Masahiro Sakurai
English voice actor	Eric Newsome
Japanese voice actor	Atsushi Kisaichi
Article on WiKirby	Meta Knight

Meta Knight (メタナイト, Meta Knight) is a character from the Kirby universe. He is often seen as Kirby's rival, but has also been portrayed as an ally and even an occasional mentor.

Character description

Meta Knight is a major character in the Kirby video game series developed by HAL Laboratory. Kirby's Adventure was his first appearance, although Meta Knight was not given a name until Kirby's Avalanche, released in 1995. He is a mysterious character and is seen as both a hero and a villain, and more generally an anti-hero, in the series. He is sometimes cast as an antagonist to Kirby, but his intentions are not generally portrayed as evil. In certain instances, he sends his troops, the Meta-Knights, as enemies against the pink protagonist as a sort of training.

Meta Knight is a Kirby-like being cloaked in armor, his glowing yellow eyes visible underneath a silver mask. His primary weapon is a pronged golden sword named Galaxia. He wears a cape that can turn into bat-like wings, which he uses to fly around. On certain occasions, he will throw off his cape, revealing his wings underneath. Meta Knight's mask breaks almost every time he is defeated, revealing a face very similar to Kirby's. However, Meta Knight's skin is blue, and his eyes are variously depicted as white or yellow. Upon defeat, Meta Knight immediately wraps himself within his cape and flees.

In battle, Meta Knight has a notable code of honor. He always provides a sword to Kirby in order to have an equal duel; in some games, such as Kirby Super Star and Kirby: Squeak Squad, there may be certain circumstances that cause him to make the first move when Kirby takes too long to get the weapon. However, in contrast to his code of honor, Meta Knight is also occasionally shown to be forceful and arrogant. This is best demonstrated in the "Revenge of Meta Knight" mode of Kirby Super Star, where Meta Knight attempts to use his battleship Halberd to take control of Dream Land and end its carefree lifestyle.

In Super Smash Bros. Melee

Meta Knight's only appearance in this game is as a collectible trophy, unlocked as one of the 250+ trophies that can be collected randomly during normal play, such as in the Trophy Lottery and throughout the various Single-player Regular Matches (though it will only be available to start appearing after the player has played over 200 Vs mode matches). The trophy has a factual error: while his first appearance was in Kirby's Adventure in May 1993, the trophy claims that his first appearance was in Kirby Super Star in September 1996.

Trophy description

Meta Knight's trophy in Super Smash Bros. Melee.

The mysterious head of the Meta-Knights, he wields his sword with dignity. He delivered his sword to Kirby and demanded single combat in show of his knightly honor; his strict adherence to his code of ethics makes him a rarity in Dream Land. Sometimes he throws off his cape in battle. It occasionally transforms into wings.

• Kirby Super Star 9/96^[sic]

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Meta Knight as he appears in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Meta Knight is a newcomer in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and he is available to play from the start. Almost all of his attacks involve his sword, Galaxia, and most of these attacks are extremely fast such as his up air that comes out in just two frames (2/60 of a second), referencing his swordsmanship in the Kirby franchise. Though his overall reach is average, the length of his sword relative to his small body gives him grossly disproportionate disjoint in all of his attacks giving him excellent spacing options. In addition to fast attacks, Meta Knight is equipped with incredible recovery potential. Like Kirby, King Dedede, Jigglypuff, he has multiple jumps, but, despite physically resembling Kirby, he doesn't puff himself up to fly. Instead, he transforms his cape into wings to propel himself upwards, Meta Knight has the ability to glide using his cape wings. Furthermore, Meta Knight is equipped with very versatile special moves that not only improve his already stellar recovery but also heavily define his neutral and edgeguard game.

At this point in time, Meta Knight is widely considered to be the best character in the game due to his lack of disadvantageous match-ups (with one documented but heavily disputed even matchup against Pikachu) along with his overwhelming dominance in tournaments. Due to being considered "broken", Meta Knight had been banned since January 9, 2012 on the Unity Ruleset and has been the only character in the Smash series to be banned in standard tournaments. However, after the disbandment of the Unity ruleset, prohibiting him is up to the Tournament Organizer.

Trophy

Meta Knight's trophy in Brawl.

The head of the Meta-Knights, and something of a rival to Kirby. He's quite an accomplished swordsman. Following his code of knightly ethics, he once delivered his sword to Kirby and demanded single combat. His giant cape transforms into wings, giving him the power of flight. He's shown his face briefly before, but his relationship to Kirby is still a mystery.

: Kirby's Adventure

: Kirby Super Star

Stickers

Name	Game	Effect	Characters
Meta Knight	Kirby: Squeak Squad	AttackSlash+032 Attack +32	Kirby Meta Knight King Dedede
Meta Knight Ball	Kirby: Canvas Curse	SpecialLaunchPower+008 +8	Kirby Meta Knight King Dedede

Meta Knight (Kirby Squeak Squad)

Meta Knight Ball (Kirby Canvas Curse)

In Super Smash Bros. 4

Meta Knight as he appears in Super Smash Bros. 4.

Meta Knight was confirmed as a playable character on August 13th, 2014. He has been visually updated, with his gloves now having sporting gauntlets, a detail seen in official artwork of Meta Knight in Kirby: Squeak Squad and Kirby Super Star Ultra.

Possibly due to his dominance in Brawl, Meta Knight has been significantly nerfed from Brawl to SSB4. Many of his attacks are slightly slower, and his range has been noticeably shortened, forcing him to take a more aggressive play style. His attacks no longer have transcendent priority. He has lost the ability to glide, toning down his recovery. Mach Tornado, a staple in Brawl, has less momentum and higher ending lag, removing his dominance in the neutral game. These changes have also left him more vulnerable to camping strategies.

Meta Knight is currently ranked 16th on the tier list, placing him in the B tier. Meta Knight still has numerous strengths, such as his combos from Brawl, and his deadly edge-guarding game. He has received several buffs to his KO moves as well, with his forward smash and back aerial now dealing more knockback, and Shuttle Loop deals more damage, has increased range and much higher knockback scaling. As a result, he has a powerful punishing ability. Most importantly, his air speed has been greatly increased, now being roughly average, whereas it was tied for the third slowest in Brawl. Even with the loss of many of his advantages, his strengths heavily outweigh his flaws; this has translated to his tournament status, in which he has secured strong representation and noteworthy results.

Meta Knight Mask.

Meta Knight's mask is also available as headgear for all Mii Fighter types.

Trophies

Meta Knight

Kirby's mysterious rival, this masked swordsman appears in several Kirby games. His cape transforms into wings to grant him flight. In Smash Bros., his quick sword skills and aerial agility set him apart. He can jump up to five times in a row, and he has a special move to soar higher.

A mysterious masked swordsman from the Kirby series. His cape can turn into wings, which gives him the ability to fly. His swift swordplay and ability to stay in the air give him an edge in this game. He can combine five mid-air jumps with a special move to make recovering a cinch. If you use him, try to keep battle airborne.

Meta Knight (Alt.)

Meta Knight's Dimensional Cape lets you teleport, changing where you'll reappear with directional inputs and attacking by holding the button! His Mach Tornado special can draw in and attack multiple opponents. Rise by pressing the button repeatedly, and press left or right to move.

Meta Knight's Dimensional Cape lets you teleport. After vanishing, you can move to reappear somewhere else. You can also keep holding the button to turn it into an attack! His Mach Tornado special can mix up multiple opponents in the fray. Press the button repeatedly to rise up, and move left and right to create extra havoc.

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  Classic (3DS)

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  Classic (Wii U)

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  Alt. (3DS)

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  Alt. (Wii U)

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Meta Knight as he appears in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Meta Knight returns as a playable fighter, as with all previous characters, in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, this time as an unlockable character.

Trivia

• Meta Knight was the first newcomer confirmed for Brawl and the last veteran starter confirmed for SSB4.
• Meta Knight's appearance slightly differs between the Kirby and Super Smash Bros. series. Specifically, the ends of his visor slightly curve inward, he wears purple sabatons, sports the letter M printed on his left pauldron, wears a dark purple cape (with the top part being white and having details) with a bat insignia on it, and, in Super Smash Bros. 4, wears silver gauntlets (which were shown in his official artwork in Kirby: Squeak Squad and Kirby Super Star Ultra). Starting with Kirby: Planet Robobot, his appearance in Super Smash Bros. 4 has been carried over into the Kirby games.
  • Meta Knight's sword is inspired by its appearance in the anime series. Prior to Brawl, the sword did not have a consistent design and was referred to with generic terms such as "Master Sword". Its Brawl design, which first appeared in Kirby Air Ride, features four prongs as opposed to the anime's six. Along with the name "Galaxia", this design was incorporated into later games.
• Meta Knight is the only Kirby character who speaks in complete sentences.
• Meta Knight is the only character in the Super Smash Bros. series whose entire special moveset renders him helpless.
• Meta Knight is the only sword-wielding character in the Super Smash Bros. series who lacks both a projectile and a counterattack.
• Unlike Kirby and King Dedede, Meta Knight's Japanese voice in the Super Smash Bros. series was directly lifted from the anime series instead of any prior Kirby games, mainly due to the fact he was never voiced in them. To further reflect this, his English voice, albeit different from the dubbed anime, features a slight accent, similar to how his English voice in the anime series has a Spanish accent.