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Escargoon Squad
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Escargoon Squad is the 12th (13th in the 4Kids broadcast) episode of theKirby: Right Back at Ya! series. In this episode, a series of spooky events begin occurring inCastle Dedede at night, which leadsKing Dedede to realize that he may be haunted by a vengeful ghost. After hearing corroborating stories from the other castle residents, he starts to experience further events which prevent him from sleeping. After being trapped in the dungeon and fainting from fright, it is revealed thatEscargoon has paid off several people, includingMabel,Tuff, and evenKirby to help him pull an elaborate prank on the King as revenge for all the times Escargoon was scared by the King. After this reveal, King Dedede chases them down for their trick, but is suddenly pursued byan actual ghostmonster which forces the King to pay his overdue bill toNight Mare Enterprises.
This episode marks the first time that Kirby has not been the main focus of an episode, though he is still present in the proceedings.
Characters[edit]
The following characters appear in this episode:
| Cast of "Escargoon Squad" | |
|---|---|
| Character | Selected quote |
| Primary characters | |
| "Uhh...maybe it was just a pigment[sic] of your imagination!" | |
| "I'd love to help you find the ghost, sire, but I'm afraid I'm just too afraid to!" | |
| Secondary characters | |
| "I'm sorry sire, but it wasn't my fault! Somebody must have sabotaged the drawbridge!" | |
| (no dialogue) | |
| (Fololo)"That gave him goosebumps!" (Falala)"Let's spook him again!" | |
| "Thank you!" | |
| "Poyo Pooyooo!" | |
| "It was a spook! I know it was a spook!" | |
| "There is a ghost roaming your castle who seeks revenge." | |
| "With all due respect, I find it hard to believe that you are not involved with these paranormalities." | |
| "I'd love to, King, but unfortunately, your account's on hold until you pay off your overdue balance." | |
| "I dare say we have a spirit among the spirits, if you'll pardon the unintentional pun, sire!" | |
| "But I saw it, too! I heard footsteps, like somebody was following me!" | |
| "We sure scared him bad!" | |
| (no dialogue) | |
Locations[edit]
Plot synopsis[edit]
The episode begins at Castle Dedede, where Escargoon has acquired a new digital camera, and wishes to use it to get a new portrait of King Dedede. Out on the balcony, the King poses for a picture, but the resulting image shows an imprint of a ghost beside him which has Escargoon spooked. Dedede plays it cool by insisting he isn't afraid of ghosts, but later on, he can be seen visibly shaking in fear from the idea. Later that night, they drive theirArmored Vehicle down to Cappy Town and visit Mabel to get Dedede's fortune read. She confirms to him that a vengeful ghost is roaming Castle Dedede, and will come for him that night. Dedede and Escargoon return to the castle, still trying to find a rational explanation, when the drawbridge starts to raise on its own while they are on it. After recovering from this, the two are spooked by the appearance of Captain Waddle Doo out of the darkness.
As Escargoon scolds the captain for his lack of vigilance, the ghost appears to swoop out of the sky after King Dedede, but only he can see it. As Dedede and Escargoon make their way back indoors, they encounter Sir Ebrum and Lady Like, who also report having seen a ghost. Dedede tries to explain it away, but Tiff recounts her experience with the ghost in detail, followed by Lady Like and Sir Ebrum. Dedede starts to suspect these tales are meant to scare him away from the castle, but Meta Knight interjects, suspecting Dedede may be to blame for the situation. As the group confronts Dedede, he breaks down, and runs to his throne room to order something fromNight Mare Enterprises to take care of the ghost, but the Sales Guy turns him down due to his overdue balance.
Out of options, King Dedede resolves to search the castle to find out what is causing these hauntings. He starts to get spooked by footsteps in the distance, and runs into Escargoon again, scaring both in the process. The King tries to recruit Escargoon to help him search, but Escargoon flat-out refuses and runs to his room, locking the door behind him. Getting spooked again, King Dedede hurries to his bedroom, where he hopes to sleep until morning to avoid further incidents. This fails, however, as he starts hearing voices and a violent thunderstorm kicks up outside. He tries to close the window, but it swings open again and a bunch ofFlappers fly in and out of his room. After this and other eerie phenomena, King Dedede is filled with the urge to use the bathroom, and ventures back out into the halls. Demanding that Escargoon come with him, Dedede busts down the door to Escargoon's room with his hammer and forcibly pulls the cowering snail out.
After rushing Escargoon with him to the bathroom, King Dedede uses a stall, but when he comes out, he finds that Escargoon is gone. Dedede hears moaning from out in the halls, and runs out to find three floating apparitions with sheets thrown over them. As they approach, King Dedede makes a run for it. The floating specters fall back and find Tuff, who pulls off the sheets to reveal them to be Kirby and Fololo & Falala. They gloat over how much they scared King Dedede, and plot to do more. As Sir Ebrum and company try to find where King Dedede has gone, Dedede finds himself chained to a table in the dungeon. Tuff, Kirby, and Fololo & Falala up their games by swinging a massive axe over the King, then dropping a fake wall on him and following up with dancing skeleton puppets. At all this, King Dedede finally faints from the shock. From here, Escargoon shows up and congratulates the group for their efforts, rewarding them with lollipops. Soon after, the rest of the castle's residents find the group, and prompt Escargoon to explain himself.
Escargoon reveals that he had set this whole operation up in order to get revenge against Dedede for all the pranks the king had hoisted on him, including recruiting Mabel and the kids to help him pull it off. After finishing his spiel, King Dedede pipes in, having apparently been faking being passed out. He appears to be sorry for all the trouble he caused Escargoon, commending him for his elaborate ghost setup, and convincing Escargoon to release him from the chains. As soon as Dedede is free however, he immediately goes back on this, and starts chasing Escargoon and the others who helped with his scheme down the halls. As they run away, what appears to be an actual apparition swings around the hall into Dedede's way. As the ghost passes through him, Dedede sees that Kirby and Fololo & Falala are still present, and soon runs from the ghost into his throne room, opening up the safe to try and sate the spirit with his money. The ghost grabs one of the sacks and takes it to theMonster Delivery System, teleporting back to N.M.E. The Sales Guy tells those present in the room that this was a scheme to collect King Dedede's overdue payment before signing off. The episode ends as King Dedede makes his way into the room and prepares to exact his revenge on Escargoon.
Differences between versions[edit]
- In the Japanese version, the episode opens with a shot of ablood moon before panning down to the castle.
- In the Japanese version, a shot of a swinging ceiling lamp is present just before King Dedede awakes chained to the table.
- In the Japanese version, the scene where King Dedede is being scared by the swinging axe is backed by much more light-hearted music, giving a very different tone to the scene.
- In the Japanese version, one of the pranksEscargoon recounts from Dedede involves him chasing Escargoon with a chainsaw and a clown hairstyle.
Dialogue differences[edit]
- In the Japanese version,Sir Ebrum confronts King Dedede about the bound-up skeleton visible in the dungeon during his flashback. King Dedede insists that the skeleton is a fake to stir up the mood.
- In the Japanese version, when King Dedede shouts at Sir Ebrum and his family, he is fervently denying that ghosts exist, rather than yelling that they are after him.
- In the Japanese version, there is no voice calling King Dedede's name while he is trying to sleep. Instead, King Dedede tries to count sheep in his head.
Discrepancies[edit]
- During the episode, King Dedede recalls Lady Like saying she heard footsteps in the hallway, but this is not correct; it was Tiff who said that, and even then, not with the same words. This discrepancy is not present in the Japanese version.
- Escargoon explains that he tampered with the photograph to make the ghost appear, but the ghost in the image resemblesGhost, which he was at that point unaware of.
Trivia[edit]
- This episode marks the first time the N.M.E. Sales Guy has spoken in the presence of Kirby and most of the castle residents.
- This episode marks the first time a monster has been sent toDream Land and was successful in its task; in this case being sent to collect King Dedede's money.
- When King Dedede is chasing his pranksters down the hall, Kirby seems to be oddly enjoying himself while everyone else is frightened.
Gallery[edit]
Escargoon prepares to take King Dedede's photo.
The photo showing the ghost is cast aside.
King Dedede receives his fortune from Mabel.
King Dedede gets spooked out in the courtyard.
Sir Ebrum recounts his experience in the wine cellar.
N.M.E. turns down the King's request due to lack of payment.
King Dedede and Escargoon bump into each-other in the halls.
A storm casts ghostly shadows through King Dedede's bedroom window.
Dedede is assaulted byFlappers.
Dedede rushes for a bathroom stall.
Dedede encounters the "ghosts" in the hallway.
Dedede gets tied down under a swinging axe.
Dedede faints from shock.
Escargoon rewards his partners with candy.
Escargoon spills the beans.
King Dedede puts on an insincere look of sincerity.
King Dedede throws money at his aggressor.
The castle residents find out who sent the ghost.
The final shot of the episode
Removed scene[edit]
Removed scene where King Dedede wears a clown wig and chases Escargoon with a chainsaw
Names in other languages[edit]
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | デデデ城のユーレイ Dedede-jō no Yūrei | The Ghost of Castle Dedede |
| Chinese | 嗲嗲嗲城堡的幽靈 Diǎdiǎdiǎ Chéngbǎo de Yōulíng | The Ghost of Castle Dedede |
| French | L'escadron d'Escargoon | Escargoon's squadron |
| German | Geister auf Schloss Dedede | Ghosts on Castle Dedede |
| Italian | Un fantasma a palazzo | A ghost in the palace |
| Brazilian Portuguese | O Esquadrão de Escargot | The Escargoon Squad |
