The newest trailer for Kirby and the Forgotten Land gave fans a sizable look at the title’s various gameplay systems, with a particular focus on co-op and new copy abilities. And while story details are still somewhat slim, fans got a better idea of what Forgotten Lands world will look like, and what characters will make an appearance. Familiar faces like the Waddle Dees and Meta Knight featured prominently in the trailer, but there was one Kirby icon that was mysteriously absent. Kirby and the Forgotten Land has yet to show one of the most important characters in franchise history, King Dedede.
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A Brief History Of King Dedede
Over the long history of Nintendo’s many first-party properties, most of its protagonists have become so bound to a singular antagonist that they appear in almost every new entry. Mario has Bowser, Link has Ganon, and in the thirty years that Kirby has entertained gamers with his pink, puffy form, King Dedede has consistently been a thorn in his side.
King Dedede has appeared in all but one of the Kirby games over the years, serving as Dream Land’s greedy, self-appointed king. The big blue bird has feuded with Kirby over an assortment issues, many of them stemming from his selfishness, and Dedede often decides to resolve those issues with his large wooden mallet. Curiously enough, in recent years King Dedede has been described as more of a ‘frienemy’ to Kirby, in some cases helping the hero overcome his adversaries and appearing as a playable character in certain co-op Kirby games. Nevertheless, Dedede’s long history with Kirby has given him a villainous reputation.
Where King Dedede Could Be In Forgotten Land
Given King Dedede’s strong connection to Kirby, it’s curious that he hasn’t appeared in any of the marketing material for Kirby and the Forgotten Land so far. The initial reveal trailer for the game was purposefully limiting in what it showed in order to convey the mystery of the game’s new setting, but the newest gameplay trailer seems to be making familiarity its focus. It could simply be the case that Nintendo isn’t ready to show what Dedede is up to just yet in order to avoid spoilers, in which case he could be lurking in any of the large environments that Forgotten Land has shown so far.
The decision to hold off on showing characters like Meta Knight until now seems to be paying off for fans that were looking forward to seeing the swordsman, so similar motivations are likely behind King Dedede’s absence. It would be hard to imagine any Kirby game without the portly penguin making some kind of appearance, and Nintendo is likely just playing into that reputation. Nintendo seems to be paying special attention to Kirby’s 30th anniversary, so if King Dedede is making an appearance in Forgotten Land, it will likely want to give him an introduction befitting of such royalty.
Kirby and the Forgotten Land is set to release on March 25, 2022 exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.
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