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King Dedede Artwork ofKing Dedede from theKirby novel series Details First appearance Kirby and the Dangerous Gourmet Mansion?! Last appearance Kirby: Great Duel at a Quick Draw Contest! Role Protagonist Other appearance(s) his video game counterpart his anime counterpart

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This article is about King Dedede as a character in the novels. For King Dedede in the games, seeKing Dedede.

King Dedede is one of the four primary protagonists of theKirby novel series, alongsideKirby,Meta Knight, andWaddle Dee. He resides inhis castle as the self-proclaimed King ofDream 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 featured volume—Kirby: King Dedede's Great Escape Mission!—where he took the role of protagonist instead of Kirby.

Characteristics[edit]

King Dedede, identical in appearance tohis 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 overDream Land, prone to being short-tempered, incredibly selfish, and disrespectful. His loyal servantWaddle Dee is usually the primary victim of his unpredictable anger, as well asKirby, 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 andMeta 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 theKirby novel series, along with the role he plays and its details in the plot of each volume:

King Dedede's appearances in theKirby 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 haveChef Kawasaki cook for him nonstop. Randomly during this, he is interrupted by three siblings,Kerota, Keroji, and Kerolina, who need his help to harvest rumoredmystical 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 theWoodkeeper 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 itsmother bird. When theSqueaks show up and snatch the egg, King Dedede comes in at the last minute, and fightsStoro 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 rareDyna 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 planetChiffon Star. Their task is to search for the missingPrincess 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 byBaron Gallic, a villain who uses his powerfulMalice 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 prepareKing 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 theRex 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's Labyrinth Rescue!		Tetartagonist	In this volume, King Dedede is convinced to joinMagolor's quest to find his friend with a promise by Magolor that his friend will treat him with a great feast. After Kirby gets swallowed by theDimension Mirror, Dedede throws Magolor into the mirror. He grows suspicious over Waddle Dee's worry for Kirby, but Waddle Dee lies and tells him that Kirby is his enemy. Dedede also jumps into the mirror, crashing into the ground. He finds theMini Kirby and picks him up to mock him and blow him away with his snort. Becoming lost in theMirror World, King Dedede wanders aimlessly in search formirrors with the others following him. When they meet Kirby, Dedede smacks the ground with his hammer to create a hole to the secret passage. As they journey, Dedede becomes impatient and wants to leave. He hastily jumps into the elegant mirror, thinking it will lead him to their destination. There, he findsElline and startles her, and she throws at him a piece of clay in return. He volunteers himself to help Elline andClaycia reconcile, but only with the gift of food in return. He helps Claycia gain inspiration by making horrible art, which inspires her to fill the world with beautiful things. King Dedede is jealous of theKirby Rocket and wants to become a rocket himself. He tries to take the canvas away from Waddle Dee but gets stopped by Meta Knight. As the others battleTaranza, Dedede draws a design for a Dedede Rocket, which he transforms into, but the design is so poor, that he flies into a different direction from the battle. As everyone chases Magolor and the mirror, the King Dedede Rocket accidentally crashes into Magolor, and he reverts to his regular form. When Dedede sees Magolor transforming into a giant, he laughs at him. Magolor tries to crush him, but Taranza saves Dedede with his strings. He tries to help in the fight against the gigantic Magolor, but he cannot damage him. He and Meta Knight distract Magolor while Waddle Dee searches for a copy ability. He throwsKnuckle Joe onto Magolor so Mini Kirby can inhale him. After the fight, King Dedede leaves and goes back to Dream Land.
Kirby's Decisive Battle! Battle Royale!!		Tritagonist	In this volume, King Dedede is visited byTron, who showers him with compliments and offers to have a tournament which will spread Dedede's greatness. Dedede worries that Kirby will show up and defeat him, and Tron calms him by showing him theKirby Printer and telling him his plan to tire Kirby. Dedede chooses to have a cake from Chef Kawasaki as a prize and calls the eventDedede's Cake Royale. At the day of the event, when Kirby shows up, King Dedede shows him the Kirby copies and the Kirby Printer, boasting that Kirby is going to lose. During the tournament, seeing Kirby and Waddle Dee win, Dedede becomes more and more angry at Tron, even threatening to cancel the event. At the finals, he decides to take matters into his own hands and challenges Kirby to a fight, ignoring the registration process. He ignores the rules of the match ofCrazy Theater they are supposed to have, having a one-on-one battle against Kirby. He knocks theSword ability out of Kirby, refusing to stop the match to let him prepare another copy ability. He is defeated byNinja Kirby's pyrotechnics. Even after his defeat, he refuses to give up and challenges Kirby to a second round. Fighting against Kirby in theDededestroyer Z, he at first seems victorious by overwhelming Kirby with Kirby copies created by the printer. However, after Kirby turns the tables by receiving acannon to shoot the copies at the mech, Dedede panics and misaims his attacks. Dedede is again defeated by pyrotechnics, falling with the Dededestroyer Z into a hole and falling unconscious. When waking up, he helps destroy the Kirby Printer, thinking it is another competition against Kirby. He refuses to erase theWaddle Dees, choosing to take them as his servants and paying them with food. During the celebration for Kirby's victory, Dedede is grumpy for his loss and calls the Waddle Dees to demolish the Battle Castle.
Kirby: Big Trouble in Patch Land!		Tetartagonist	In this volume, King Dedede gets ambushed and captured by Yarn Waddle Dees created byYin-Yarn inside his castle, and then gets sent toPatch Land. Kirby andPrince Fluff later find him inSnow 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 toPatch Castle per Fluff's invite, with the help of theDevils. 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 aMagic 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 ofKirby'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 theRainbow Islands to enjoy a beach vacation, and meetKirby 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. AfterPick andMine have made snacks forPirika, 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 fightGooey, but Kirby refuses, and they all flee the battlefield. When King Dedede battles Gooey, he exposes him to Kirby'sinhale. 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'sbag. 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 tellsDaroach the news too. Daroach encourages him to search for the gears, which makes him joins the search. WhenMagolor 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 downHugo 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 crash into his plane and they both crash to the ground. He and the others go and have cake instead.	This story takes place in an alternate universe.
Kirby: Uproar at the Kirby Café?!		Deuteragonist	In this volume, King Dedede is bitten by an insect and falls ill, causing him to not eat, and is cured by a medicine the Waddle Dees found, demanding breakfast. He goes to Chef Kawasaki's restaurant and encountersWhispy Woods sleeping. He plucks a fruit from Whispy, who makes up from a sting. Whispy blames Dedede for hurting him and a fight begins. Dedede is defeated by Whispy Woods and escapes, swearing to never eat his fruit again. He enters Kawasaki's restaurant, orders food, and agrees to taste the new pie. When he learns that the pie is made from Whispy's fruit, he becomes mad and changes his mind. When King Dedede hears about theKirby Café he gets the idea of building a rival café and tells Waddle Dee to gather the staff. King Dedede ignores Waddle Dee's careful planning for the café, inventing ridiculous ideas for the design and menu. He gets the idea of having a cooking competition to see which café is the best and convinces Meta Knight to be the judge. When the rumor about Whispy Woods illness spread, Dedede laughs about it, ignoring Waddle Dee's suffering. When he tries to take a nap, he is reminded how kind Whispy Woods is and feels guilty. He and Waddle Dee go to visit Whispy Woods. Dedede at first doesn't want to search theGreen Spider Grass but he is convinced to join Kirby. In the mountains, the insects attack them and steal Dedede's hammer. He and Kirby are defeated by the insects and get thrown to jail. After three days, they break out of their cell after hearing from aBeetley about the harvesting of fruit. They go to the insect's pantry and begin to eat all the fruit. Dedede is blown away byBugzzy into a crate, and uses a piece of the crate too fight back, but he is quickly defeated. They get the Green Spider Grass from Bugzzy and go back. They crash in the middle of the cooking competition and go to Whispy Woods. There, Dedede gives him the medicine and cures him. King Dedede allows Waddle Dee to make his planned dessert. When the final round of the competition is declared a tie, Dedede is angry at first, but calms down after tasting Café's. Dedede apologizes to Whispy Woods and blames the insect bite for their conflict. He cancels the Dedede Café because he worries that the Waddle Dees will be too busy with the café to take care of him. At the end, he allows Bandana Waddle to work at the Kirby Café after tasting the waddle Dee omurice.

Trivia[edit]

• Due to his absence inKirby Clash Team Unite! andKirby: 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]

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  Character artwork fromKirby and the Dangerous Gourmet Mansion?!

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  Character artwork fromKirby and the Big Panic in Gloomy Woods!

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  Character artwork fromKirby Meets the Squeak Squad!

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  Character artwork fromKirby: Meta Knight and the Puppet Princess

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  Character artwork fromKirby: Big Race in Pupupu Land!

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  Character artwork fromKirby's Labyrinth Rescue!

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  Character artwork fromKirby and the Great Planet Robobot Adventure!

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  Character artwork fromKirby's Decisive Battle! Battle Royale!!

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  Character artwork fromKirby Star Allies: The Great Friend Adventure!,Kirby Star Allies: The Universe is in Trouble?! andKirby: Save the Rainbow Islands!

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  Character artwork fromKirby and the Search for the Dreamy Gears!

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  Character artwork fromKirby: Uproar at the Kirby Café?!

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  Obi illustration of Kirby and King Dedede fromKirby: King Dedede's Great Escape Mission!

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  Table of contents artwork fromKirby and the Dangerous Gourmet Mansion?!

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  Table of contents artwork fromKirby and the Big Panic in Gloomy Woods!

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  Table of contents artwork fromKirby Meets the Squeak Squad!

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  Table of contents artwork fromKirby: Meta Knight and the Puppet Princess

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  Table of contents artwork fromKirby: Big Race in Pupupu Land!

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  Table of contents artwork fromKirby Star Allies: The Universe is in Trouble?!

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  Table of contents artwork fromKirby and the Search for the Dreamy Gears!

Names in other languages[edit]

• Novel characters

• Image requested
• Articles which list Japanese names
• Articles which list French names