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Zero
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Zero (sometimes shortened as0; also known as? in thebad ending ofKirby's Dream Land 3) is the finalboss ofKirby's Dream Land 3. It is the leader ofDark Matter, and is fought directly after Dark Matter in theHyper Zone. While it does not appear inKirby 64: The Crystal Shards, Zero appears to have been succeeded by0².
Although only formally appearing in one game, Zero's legacy throughout the series is quite vast, as several subsequent final bosses would reference or resemble it, includingDark Mind,Magolor, andVoid.
Characteristics[edit]
Zero is a giant white sphere with a single red eyeball in the center. For some of its attacks, it spurts blood from red streaks on its body and from its eye. It also has the power to summonMini Dark Matter[1] that charges forward. When Zero's initial phase is defeated, its eyeball emerges from its body and is fought on its own in the final phase of the battle; it is smaller and faster and continues to spurt blood, but loses its ability to summon Mini Dark Matter, instead opting to aggressively and continuously charge at Kirby and Gooey.
Game appearances[edit]
| Zero's video game appearances | ||
|---|---|---|
| Game | Role | Notes |
| Kirby's Dream Land 3 | Main antagonist and true final boss | |
| Kirby: Planet Robobot | Reference | Appears as asticker |
| Kirby Star Allies | Reference | Appears in the "Bad Boss Brothers"Celebration Picture. |
| Kirby's Dream Buffet | Reference | Appears on aCharacter Treat. |
| Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe | Reference | Appears as aDress-Up Mask. |
Kirby's Dream Land 3[edit]
After forging theLove-Love Stick,Kirby and his friendGooey fly into the heart ofthe dark cloud in an area called theHyper Zone. There, after Kirby defeatsDark Matter, Zero appears out of nowhere and engages Kirby.
Phase 1[edit]
Zero has a number of attacks, but what makes it the most dangerous is its looming size. Zero's attacks are as follows:
- Shooting red blood pellets out from its body as a projectile volley.
- CreatingMini Dark Matter flyers and sending them at Kirby.
- Charging at Kirby.
- Leaving the main area and firing blood at Kirby from the background.
To hurt Zero, Kirby must simply hit the boss with projectiles from theLove-Love Stick in his hands (32damage per shot), though Zero takes many hits to defeat. Zero's first form has 4080HP, requiring 128 shots from Kirby to defeat (or 160 shots if Gooey is in battle due to the 0.8× damage modifier for 2 players). Zero's first form has only 1 invincibility frame when getting hit, so it's faster to defeat this form with 2 players.
Phase 2[edit]
Once it loses all its HP, Zero's eye rips out of its body in rather gory fashion and pursues Kirby as a last resort to defeat him. All Kirby has to do at this point is dodge and keep hitting it with the Love-Love Stick. In this form, Zero now has only 256 HP and takes 8 shots from Kirby to be defeated (or 10 shots if Gooey is in battle). Zero's eye has much longer invincibility frames, so it's recommended to battle with 1 player only. Notably, it's common for Zero's eye to get caught in a loop if Kirby stays put; it will just continuously spin around him without actually dealing damage, which makes hitting it much easier. Defeating the eye of Zero finally defeats Zero itself and completesKirby's Dream Land 3 with the good ending.
Kirby: Planet Robobot[edit]
InKirby: Planet Robobot, Zero appears as asticker, based on his artwork fromKirby's Dream Land 3 (though shrunken down a fair bit).
Kirby Star Allies[edit]
InKirby Star Allies, Zero appears in theCelebration Picture "Bad Boss Brothers" alongside many other final bosses.
Kirby's Dream Buffet[edit]
InKirby's Dream Buffet, Zero appears on aCharacter Treat, depicting its artwork fromKirby's Dream Land 3.
Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe[edit]
InKirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe, Zero's likeness appears in the form of aDress-Up Mask, rewarded for completing card #41 in theStamp Rally.
Trivia[edit]
- Although it is easy to construe the blood that spurts from Zero as red energy blobs, the visuals warranted an "Animated Blood" descriptor from the ESRB when it ratedKirby's Dream Collection Special Edition. Nonetheless, their rating describes the effects generically as "red droplets" and "red-damage effects".[2]
- Zero was originally set to appear as aball character inKirby: Canvas Curse, along with other bosses from previous games, likeLololo & Lalala,Dark Matter, andNightmare's Power Orb. However, the idea was scrapped, and it doesn't appear in the final game.[3]
- Dark Nebula is called "Dark Zero" in Japanese, Chinese and Korean, but beyond this connection, there is no confirmed relationship between it and Zero.
- InKirby's Return to Dream Land,Lor & Magolor have an attack similar to one of Zero's, in which they fire barrages of bullets from the background.
- Void has a similar color scheme to that of Zero and resembles him more in his Dark Matter-esque form. This connection is furthered by the Hyper Zone's appearance in Void's splash screen.
Gallery[edit]
Zero can be seen in the lower-right in the "Bad Boss Brothers"Celebration Picture fromKirby Star Allies
Original sketch of the "Bad Boss Brothers" Celebration Picture
Kirby wearing the Zero Dress-Up Mask inKirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe
Miiverse illustration commemorating Kirby's 23rd birthday
Illustration from theKirby JP Twitter featuring a cookie based on Zero
Dedede Directory about Zero
Circus Kirby juggling a ball resembling Zero inFind Kirby!! Full of Kirby
Zero occupying the train door as seen on a "Manners Improvement" badge and cushion from the "Kirby Pupupu Train" 2018 events. The text says "Let the door be open"
Zero (bottom right) as seen on "Pupupu Times Vol.2" towel from the "Pupupu Train" 2018 events. The news headline says "Train delay! Numerous sightings of a giant flying sphere!"
Set 8 of the Kirby hanafuda cards, featuring Zero.
Metal charms with tassels from the "KIRBY Mystic Perfume" merchandise line
Acrylic stand collection from the "KIRBY Mystic Perfume" merchandise line
Second set of oil charms from the "KIRBY Mystic Perfume" merchandise line
Names in other languages[edit]
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | ゼロ Zero | Zero |
| Chinese | 零 Líng | Zero |
| Dutch | Zero | - |
| French | Zéro | Zero |
| German | Zero | - |
| Italian | Zero | - |
| Korean | 제로 Jero | Zero |
| Portuguese | Zero | - |
| Spanish | Zero | - |
References
- ↑Kirby Character Encyclopedia pg. 81
- ↑"One boss character (a giant eyeball) fires red droplets at Kirby; additional red-damage effects appear as its health decreases."Kirby's Dream Collection Special Edition, ESRB (Wayback Machine snapshot)
- ↑20th Anniversary Kirby Pupupu Encyclopedia (Shogakukan), pg. 125
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