President Haltmann

"Well... allow me to elaborate. In compliance with the business plan drafted by Star Dream... effective today, you are... terminated!"

- Haltmann engaging his fight against Kirby.

President Haltmann (full name Max Proffit Haltmann) is the head of the Haltmann Works Company and the primary antagonist of the 2016 3DS video game, Kirby: Planet Robobot.

He was voiced by Mugihito, who is best known for voicing Sigma in the Mega Man X series.

Appearance
Haltmann has the appearance of a pale egg with disembodied hands and feet. He has solid cyan eyes with lavender colored hair and mustache. He wears a pink suit with a dark blue coat and a maroon tie. His hands are covered with bright purple gloves with gold-encrusted rubies and his feet are covered by black shoes. He also wears a golden radio piece covering his right ear, which he uses to control his golden mech, turning into shades whenever he activates it. When he gets possessed by Star Dream, his eyes turn from cyan to bright yellow.

Personality
Haltmann, before losing his mind from his obsession with Star Dream, was a kind and gentle businessman who put all the love and care in his company with his daughter by his side. However, after the accident that caused the separation between him and Susanna, he became a complete corrupt official, believing everyone who did not believe in Star Dream's power to grant wishes as an obstacle in his way and deserved to be "punished" through brainwashing, cloning, or mechanization, as in the case of Whispy Woods, Meta Knight, and King Dedede. His maniacal personality is shown in his boss battle when he summons two robots to aid him in his battle against Kirby, only to destroy them himself with the power from his mech whist laughing insanely. However, it is shown that Haltmann does care for the protection of his company, as in sealing Star Dream's function to summon Galacta Knight, fearing it may not only destroy the Access Ark, but also a planet or two. It is only after Star Dream possess him when he realized that the machine he spent a majority of his life creating was more evil than him and begs Kirby to destroy it to save the world, even though doing so will kill him in the process.

History
Many years before the events of Planet Robobot, Haltmann began studying the most advanced technology of the universe, and stumbled upon an ancient supercomputer known as Star Dream, a machine powerful enough to grant wishes. Despite knowing risky consequences may ensue, Haltmann's lust for more knowledge drove him to rebuild Star Dream to learn more about the universe's secrets. Unfortunately, tragedy struck when an accident occurred during a test run of the Mother Computer and Haltmann's daughter, Susanna, vanished, leaving Haltmann to believe she perished. Devastated from the loss of his child, Haltmann decided to rebuild Star Dream to make his wish to see his daughter again come true. Haltmann's obsession with reactivating Star Dream led him to use its control helmet repetitively, resulting in him losing all memories of Susanna (by the time the Mother Computer managed to retrieve her from Another Dimension, Haltmann used his control helmet to transfer enough of his memories into Star Dream to recognize Susanna as his daughter). Haltmann soon began his master plan to bring eternal prosperity to his company and began harvesting the natural resources of other planets as fuel for Star Dream, including Popstar, turning them into mechanical wastelands. Once he had completed the reactivation of the wish granting machine, he was satisfied, but in the middle of all his glory, Haltmann was confronted by Kirby in the head office of the Access Ark, mothership of the HWC.

What Haltmann didn't know, though, was that Star Dream had been studying the cosmos through the Haltmann Works Company and had secretly grown a mind of its own and a distaste for every organic life form. When Haltmann, after being defeated by Kirby, decides to use the power of Star Dream to obliterate Kirby, Susie snatches the control device out of his hands just as he plants it on his head, planning to sell Star Dream for profit, but she is suddenly blasted away by the machine before she puts on the helmet. Star Dream takes possession of Haltmann's soul and body, using it to declare all organic life-forms as obstacles in the way of Haltmann's wish for eternal prosperity of his company and must be destroyed. The machine then bursts from its pedestal and out into the cosmos to eradicate all life. Kirby is later able to pursue Star Dream using a combination of his Robobot Armor and Meta Knight's Halberd, defeating it in a dogfight throughout outer space. Even when it combines with the Access Ark, Kirby and his Robobot are able to destroy Star Dream by drilling through the two machines, seemingly destroying it.

Some time after Star Dream's programming was short circuited by Galacta Knight into creating Star Dream Soul OS, the machine no longer required Haltmann's thoughts to continue functioning and began erasing whatever remained of his soul from the system; before Haltmann's mind is erased from the computer's programming, by pausing the screen during the second and third phases of the battle during the "True Arena", the pause description is Haltmann's ultimate regret for rebuilding Star Dream, saying that no machine is capable of making any wish come true, and all he really wanted to accomplish was to see his daughter one last time. By the time Kirby reaches the heart of Star Dream, Haltmann's soul was successfully erased from Star Dream's hardware, reducing it to a "cold, mindless machine", devoid of its original purpose and bent only on creating mindless destruction. As Kirby fights against Star Dream's heart, Haltmann's screams can be heard as each of the thirteen pillars protecting the heart are destroyed, indicating that Kirby is erasing the remnants of Haltmann's soul not deleted from the malicious computer. When the heart finally shatters into pieces, Haltmann is heard screaming in a slow pitch before echoing away; the last trace of Haltmann ceases from existence.

Battle
The boss battle against Haltmann occurs immediately after Kirby defeats Mecha Knight+ in Stage 6 of Access Ark. If Kirby is defeated by Haltmann, he will automatically skip the battle with Mecha Knight+ upon reentering the boss door.

Haltmann starts the battle by firing four Susie-shaped drones that home in on Kirby. He then attaches his mech to the central platform and spins repeatedly around it before summoning more drones.

Upon losing a fifth of his health, Haltmann lowers the central column in the battlefield, changing the arena into a straightforward one. He then rises into the air, into a spot where he is invulnerable to Kirby's attacks, and summons a large robot minion to deal with Kirby. After the robot is destroyed, Haltmann comes down, charges up, then performs a spin dash across around the circumference of the stage several times, then plows straight through the middle. He does this several times, occasionally leaving stars behind for Kirby to inhale and spit back at him. Then he jumps into the air and fires a laser from the ruby attached to the bottom of his mech onto the ground, leaving a stain of fire wherever it hits. This attack repeats several times before Haltmann charges another spin attack.

When Haltmann is down to half health, he smashes a hole through the middle of the arena, making it circular again. He then fires a multitude of drones, which bombard the arena one by one in a counter-clockwise wave. Haltmann will often shoot out bills into the air, some partially obscuring the screen, then follows up by doing a spin dash around the arena, occasionally jumping across the hole and leaving stars on impact where he lands. Afterwards, Haltmann performs a series of bounces across the arena, leaving stars wherever he lands.

When Haltmann is down to the last fifth of his health, he conjures a large hollow cube to appear in the middle of the arena. He summons two robots into the arena and jumps into the cube, causing it to fire two large beams from the two holes the robots stand before, then two more from the other two, and then all four. Haltmann then fires his mech like a drill through the cube to the opposite side of where he first drilled through. After that, he fires a multitude of drones, which bombard the arena in a counter-clockwise wave. Once his health bar is fully deplete, his mech explodes and rains down burning cash.

In the "Meta Knightmare Returns" and the "True Arena" subgames, Kirby or Meta Knight fights against '''Pres. Haltmann 2.0''', who fights in the same style as his regular form, except he moves faster, has more health, fires six Susie drones at the beginning instead of four, and targets the hollow cube at Kirby or Meta Knight before drilling through it.

Quotes
"I am the president and CEO of the Haltmann Works Company. My subordinates call me...President Haltmann."

- Haltmann introducing himself.

"Absolutely incredible. Indeed. It's truly marvelous! We've analyzed the most advance civilizations in the known universe. And with that knowledge, we have reactivated this...The Mother Computer...Star Dream."

- Haltmann describing Star Dream.

"You ungrateful native! You need to be taught your place! Savages! Savages! Savages! SAVAGES! You're all wild savages! Your insolence must be punished! Watch me activate Star Dream, the most powerful machine in existence. And you filthy natives will be...eradicated!"

- Haltmann's breakdown after losing against Kirby.

"I...I can't...cont...roll..."

- Haltmann having his mind absorbed by Star Dream.

"Why did I reactivate such a terrible machine? Oh, I remember...I wanted to see her one last time. How foolish! I should have known no machine could make such a dream come true."

- Haltmann's remorse for rebuilding Star Dream.

Trivia

 * Haltmann shares similarities to several other Kirby villains:
 * Queen Sectonia: Both became mentally corrupted by a specific object (Dimension Mirror to Sectonia, Star Dream to Haltmann) galaxy domination for their own personal reasons, only to be betrayed by their most trusted servant (Taranza to Sectonia, Susie to Haltmann). Also, both have portraits and statues of themselves decorating the first stage of the final area.
 * Sectonia, however, betrayed Taranza for he outlived his purpose, though he did help Kirby defeat her in the end.
 * Claycia: Originally started out good, but an accident causes them to go hungry for power and results in possession from a darker figure (Dark Crafter to Claycia, Star Dream to Haltmann). Claycia, however, only turned crazy after she was possessed by Dark Crafter.
 * Marx: Use the power of a wish to get what they want. Also, the third phase of Star Dream's boss fight looks strikingly similar to Nova, the wish making machine Marx used to try to control the universe, only to be stopped by Kirby. Star Dream may actually be a reconstructed Nova since it was destroyed after Marx crashed into it.
 * Daroach: Seek ultimate power for their own personal reasons, only to get possessed by a dark entity (Dark Nebula to Daroach, Star Dream to Haltmann). Daroach, however, redeemed himself after Dark Nebula is destroyed, which Haltmann does not.
 * Yin-Yarn, Zero, Dark Matter, Dark Mind, Lord Nightmare, Magolor: Seek to conquer the entire galaxy and killing/brainwashing every person who refuses to obey them. They appear to almost succeed, only to be defeated by Kirby before any harm could be done.
 * Haltmann shares similarities to other tragic villains:
 * Doctor Octopus from Spiderman 2: Both are wealthy individuals who, due to a failed scientific experiment, lost a love one, thus becoming absent minded in their machines and grow to use it in a way to conquer the world (although Otto was able to resist the urge of his machinery and destroyed the fusion device in a heroic sacrifice).
 * Robert Callaghan/Yokai from Big Hero 6: The accidents leading to their daughter's disappearance to an alternate dimension drove them to despair until they used the powers of robotics in attempt to get them back, lacking any knowledge that their attempts could tear apart the world in the process. The difference here is that while Haltmann used Star Dream, the machine responsible for his daughter's disappearance, Callaghan instead used Hiro's microbots to achieve his goal.
 * Count Bleck from Super Paper Mario: Both originally were ordinary and harmless civilians turned corrupted by the loss of their most beloved special figure (Susanna for Haltmann, Tipani for Bleck) and attempted to destroy everything that took them away.
 * Lusamine from Pokémon Sun and Moon: Both are wealthy presidents of their companies who lose a special figure from their life to an alternate dimension while conducting experiments (Haltmann lost his daughter while Lusamine lost her husband). Both but were eventually controlled by the same thing that took their loved ones away (Star Dream for Haltmann, Nihilego for Lusamine) and eventually grew to treat it as their loved ones. By the end of the game, both fuse with the thing they valued so much, which then serves as the game's final boss.
 * Oddly, both games they appeared in were released in 2016 for the 3DS.
 * Haltmann's first and middle name, Max Profitt, is an obvious play on "maximum profit", which refers to his obsession with expensive machinery and focus to make the highest profit possible. In Japanese, his name translate to "Gaines Income Haltmann", a play on "Gains Income'.
 * The pause description during President Haltmann's battle is the lyrics to the Haltmann Works Company's theme song, "The Noble Haltmann".
 * In a secret cutscene unlocked upon completing a save file 100%, Haltmann is seen happily listening to Susie sing the company's theme song.
 * According to Dedede Clone 2.0's bio card, Haltmann's mech is known as his Executive Suit, and it is made of solid gold.
 * Haltmann is luxurious enough to have his own type of currency, with his and Susie's faces implanted on bills.
 * Haltmann is presumably the only Kirby villain to not only die, but to be erased from existence.