Please remember that WiKirby contains spoilers, which you read at your own risk! See ourgeneral disclaimer for details.
Haltmann Works Company
TheHaltmann Works Company is the main antagonist organization inKirby: Planet Robobot. It is an alien civilization with a corporate hierarchy, which traverses deep space using their giant mothership: theAccess Ark. It engages in rapid hostile takeover of any world it can (referred to as theMechanizing Occupation Project), in order to extract all the resources from said planet, then move on to the next one, leaving all manner of mechanical desolation in its wake. The company is led byPresident Haltmann, who in turn tends to the heart of the company, the ancient computer known asStar Dream.Susie is the executive assistant and secretary to the president andHaltworkers are the most common employees. The company publishes a currency called Haltmann, named after the president himself.
The main story ofKirby: Planet Robobot revolves around the company taking root onPlanet Popstar using their mothership, theAccess Ark. As all other opposition to the takeover was effectively shot down on arrival, it is up toKirby to save his world from consumption by single-handedly taking out each leg of the ark, then dealing with the president and his computer. After the ark is destroyed, the Haltmann Works Company is also effectively ended as an organization.
InKirby Star Allies, it is hinted inSusie's pause screen inGuest Star ???? Star Allies Go! that she aims to rebuild the company and continue to mechanize other planets and peoples.
Profile[edit]
This section is the translation of the company profile on theJapanese official website.
- Business: Planet mechanizing occupation; effective economy development and resource farming (until resources run dry)
- Employees: About 860,000 (Hires locally; executives are loyal, high-performance robots.)
- Headquarters:Access Ark, the giant invader mothership (Moves between planets at certain times.)
- Philosophy: To achieve infinite prosperity by means of mechanization
- Anthem: "Haltmann Works Co. Theme Song"
Production[edit]
The Haltmann Works Company is responsible for several creations, includingGigavolt,C.O.G.S.,Holo Defense API (possibly modelled afterPix), theD3 Cannon,Security Force (modelled afterMetal General), and most recognizably, theInvader Armor (which becomes theRobobot Armor if piloted byKirby). The company has mechanized severalPopstar habitants, notably modifyingWhispy Woods intoClanky Woods, andMeta Knight intoMecha Knight.
According to the boss battle Special Pages, these are the costs of some creations:
- Clanky Woods /Mecha Knight: 2.325 billion Haltmanns
- Clanky Woods 2.0: 1.1625 billion Haltmanns (half of the previous model)
- Gigavolt: 4.3 billion Haltmanns
- Gigavolt 2.0: 8.6 billion Haltmanns (double of the previous model)
- D3 Cannon: 9.3 billion Haltmanns (four times that of Clanky Woods / Mecha Knight; 5 billion more than Gigavolt)
- President Haltmann's Executive Suit: 37.2 billion Haltmanns (four times that of the D3 Cannon)
InTeam Kirby Clash Deluxe, the Mad Scientist's Flask forDoctor Healmore sold atMagolor's Shoppe has the Haltmann Works Company's logo on it and thus is rumored to be its production.
InKirby Star Allies,Susie can use a laser gun made by the company called the H.W.C. Blaster (referred to as aＨ．Ｗ．Ｃ．せいレーザーガン (Haltmann Works Company-made Laser Gun) in Japanese).
Trivia[edit]
- The name ofPresident Haltmann and his company is somewhat based onHAL Laboratory itself, whose name in turn derives fromHAL 9000,[1] the sentient computer featuring throughout theSpace Odyssey series of science-fiction works.
- The number of employees and the cost ofGigavolt 2.0 are also references to HAL (86=ハル).
- Given its connection to HAL 9000, the name Haltmann also bears a passing resemblance to the name of Halman, a merger of the non-corporeal forms of HAL 9000 and Dave Bowman, appearing inthe final Space Odyssey novel.
- Star Dream's second phase has an attack named "Haltmann Works Company" in which it fires giant letters of H, A, and L, the order of which differs between the normal version and theSoul OS version.
Names in other languages[edit]
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | ハルトマンワークスカンパニー Harutoman Wākusu Kanpanī | Haltmann Works Company |
| English | Haltmann Works Company | - |
| Canadian French | Société Haltmann | Haltmann Company |
| European French | Haltmann SA | Haltmann PLC SA is an abbreviation for "société anonyme" and is the France equivalent of PLC ("public limited company"). |
| German | Haltmann OHG | Haltmann General Commercial Partnership |
| Italian | Haltmann Works Company | - |
| Korean | 할트만 웍스 컴퍼니 Halteuamn Wogseu Keompeoni | Haltmann Works Company |
| Polish | Haltmann Works Company[2] | - |
| Spanish | Corporación Haltmann | Haltmann Corporation |
References
- ↑"We worked until midnight or later every night, and that group of friends is what became the company known as HAL today. The name came from the computer in the movie 2001: Space Odyssey.[sic]" –Satoru Iwata (GDC 2005 keynote) (IGN transcript andWayback Machine snapshot of transcript)
- ↑Nintendo Polska -Kirby: Planet Robobot
