King Dedede

King Dedede is the self-proclaimed king of Dream Land, a country on the planet Pop Star. He resembles a large, fat penguin. He is one of the main antagonist of the Kirby series, but also one of the least "evil"; most occasions in which he is an antagonist is when he has been possessed by the game's true antagonist, once by Yin Yarn and thrice by the Dark Matter. His other roles as an antagonist can generally be attributed to selfishness, mischief, and his desire to prove himself better than Kirby. Besides having an enormous appetite, he wields an extremely large hammer.

Personality
Dedede is very selfish, helping only when he sees no choice. He is also very lazy, like everyone in Dream Land (with the exception of Meta Knight). He has an indescribable hatred for stars, which is inconvenient, considering the entire planet is shaped like a star.

As with most other game characters, Dedede's past isn't touched upon. It isn't clear just how he came to rule Dream Land, though it's been said that it's something he decided for himself, and so far no one has tried to overthrow him.

Dedede isn't so much of an evil tyrant as he is a plain old bully. He does a lot of nasty things, like stealing all of the people's food, but he's also tried to do things to help Dream Land, such as his actions in Kirby's Adventure. But due to his past tricks, Kirby is constantly suspicious of Dedede, and usually misinterprets his actions. In many games he fights on Kirby's side, mostly recent ones, suggesting a change in their relationship and his alignment. He has not been willingly evil in any game in the past ten years.

It's been suggested that Dedede is jealous of Kirby, something that once led him to train to be able to inhale and float as Kirby does. He and Kirby often compete in ways other than just battling, such as various races and side games. (Dedede may be one of the only characters whose appetite can rival Kirby's).

Past
King Dedede rules Dreamland, where everyone is usually lazy just like him. He usually does mischevious things that result in some problems for the inhabitants, which earned him a bad reputation. However, Dedede isn't evil, and he actually thinks of the good of everyone (in his own manner). But due to his reputation his actions are always misinterpreted, leading to him being beaten up by Kirby. He is also a primary target for posession by the Dark Matter.

Kirby's Adventure
In Kirby's Adventure, when the Nightmare took over the Fountain of Dreams to spread bad dreams, Dedede took the Star Rod that powered it and gave it's pieces to his most trusted friends, trapping the Nightmare in the fountain unable to do anything. But as Kirby saw Dedede swimming in the lake around the fountain, he thought that Dedede was up to his mischiefs again. As Kirby recovers the Star Rod and replaces it (with Dedede trying to prevent him), the Nightmare sets free, so Dedede inhales both Kirby and the Star Rod and sends them to chase the Nightmare. This started a popular trend in the series where King Dedede would serve as the apparent final boss, but collecting all the pieces of the game's key item would reveal the true instigator of Dream Land's problems.

Kirby: Right Back at Ya!
King Dedede's appearance in the anime is just like Kirby 64, with a blue stomach instead of a tan robes covering it. King Dedede is portrayed as more villainous than he is in the games, with a meaner disposition (he is also much less intelligent and more bumbling). In the Japanese version of the anime, King Dedede has a verbal tic, ending most of his sentences with ぞい (-zoi), which carries no meaning. This is later carried over to the voiceover for his Japanese dialogue in Kirby's Epic Yarn. In the English dub, he speaks with a thick Southern/Texas accent (the accent is similar to Foghorn Leghorn) and often says ridiculous things reminscent of "Bushisms". He is voiced in the Japanese version by Kenichi Ogota and in the English dub by Ted Lewis (who was credited as Ed Paul). His dub voice, combined with the ridiculous things he says would seem to indicate that his dub persona is meant as a parody of former American President George W. Bush.

In the Kirby of the Stars Pilot, Dedede tries to get rid of Kirby using Wile E. Coyote-esque tricks and traps, only for them to quickly backfire in his face. He tries to help out when the sky darkens, but he gets zapped by what seems to be Nightmare. Strangely, his hat actually has a crown on it instead of the white bobble, reminiscent of Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards.

In Kirby: Right Back at Ya!, Dedede is the evil dictator of Popstar, his role is similar to his game roles - except that he has less of a good side, and is much more malicious and annoying. He has a sidekick in the show named Escargoon, who was also voiced by Ted Lewis. He is angry at Kirby for having all the townspeople like him, he even kidnaps, imprisons, and ties up ANY of the children who get in his way to get the people to like him. For instance, Tiff tries to stop Dedede, however, she usually fails and is done by the choice of the King, which is the way she is captured, after all, Tiff is Kirby's best helper so Dedede has to aim for the right one, the girl herself. Dedede can't defeat Kirby himself, so he orders monsters called Demon Beasts from Nightmare Enterprises and sends them after Kirby. In the Japanese version of the series, he eventually gains some respect for Kirby and only desires to defeat him, rather than kill him, but this is edited out in the dub. In reality, he is actually very jealous of Kirby as he thinks Kirby gets more respect than him and is angry because he seen as mean in the Cappy's eyes. His castle is guarded by an innumerable amount of Waddle Dees and one Waddle Doo general, who seems to be able to translate what they say. He once fired them all when he purchased a Robot from NME, but he rehired them when he found out that said Robot was stealing his riches and giving them to Nightmare Enterprises in order to pay off Dedede's huge debt to them. He was slightly redesigned for the show, looking somewhat "less cute". Dedede's attire never deviates from his royal finery similar to those he wears in the games. The only other things he is seen wearing every so often are a shower cap which he sometimes dons when taking a bath, and a pair of outrageous purple sunglasses in the shape of his peace sign when he is sunbathing.

He claims that he's the 17,062nd ruler of Dream Land and that the Dedede clan has been ruling over the Cappies for a long time. None of the Cappies believed him so he tried to "prove it" by placing fake artifacts and fossils in the ground and having them excavated (with Curio's help). He was found out, however, and his plans were dashed by Stone Kirby when he unleashed the Dedede Stone.

His favourite food is apparently Turban Shells (or possibly what's inside them), which he often cooks and eats over a barbecue. Because of this, at one point, he nearly cooks Escargoon alive after the snail take refuge in a particularly large one after the King himself broke his old shell. Dedede is often criticized about his weight, particularly by Knuckle Joe who would call him "Tubby", amongst other things {the Knuckle Joe incident, however, is dub-only; in Japan, Knuckle Joe called him the equivalent of "gramps"}. He is also insulted often by Escargoon, because of his body weight and intelligence, but that usually ends up with him being the victim of Dedede's trusty hammer. (Sometimes Dedede doesn't understand what Escargoon means when he insults him, but pummels him anyway)

In a few episodes, it is emphasised that Dedede can't read unless he is read aloud to. However, in some episodes, he "can" read. (at one point, Dedede even says he prefers books with pictures in them.) It is also implied that Dedede has some kind of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) due to some head trauma he somehow experienced as a kid. Besides this, the episode "Teacher's Threat" shows that the king has no brain. Why he's brainless is unknown but, despite this, he has attempted three times to give an Education System to the people of Cappy Town. Each time has been led to failure and the destruction of the School.

In Kirby's Egg-Cellent Adventure, it is implied that he is an avid birdwatcher (though that was the only episode that this was witnessed). He also has an ambition to clear out the Whispy Woods forest so he can build a country club and play his second favorite sport - Golf. His first favorite sport is apparently beating Escargoon to a pulp. In some episodes, his trademark Hammer would be inhaled by Kirby to get the Hammer ability.

Modes of Transportation
In early episodes, Dedede would ride in a tank-like Jeep, often in the gunner seat, where he would often fire the cannon (in particular, it was Dedede firing the cannon that wrecked Kirby's spaceship, leaving him stuck in Dream Land. As usual - he blamed it on Escargoon).

In later episodes, Starting from The Kirby Derby - Part I, he would be seen in the passenger seat of a car resembling an old-fashioned Rolls Royce Limousine he purchased from Nightmare Enterprises. The Limousine is apparently fast and full of sneaky tricks and traps. Both the tank and the limousine were driven by Escargoon. No origins has been given to how the King got his Jeep, or why he got rid of it, though it's likely that he also purchased his Jeep from Nightmare Enterprises as well, possibly as one of his first purchases.

Dedede also owned a practically indestructible tour bus for one episode. It was never seen since that episode. It is notable that Dedede is one of only two characters that own and frequently drives an automobile. The other character is Mayor Len Blustergas.

Kirby
For most episodes, Dedede sees Kirby as his enemy. For the first few, he is jealous. However, deep down, he sees Kirby as the real hero of Dream Land and cares for him. In the later episodes, Dedede's plots start to less involve killing Kirby and more of humiliating him. In some episodes, such as the episode where the Pengi clan invades Cappy Town, Dedede actually teams up with Kirby. In the episode Prediction Predicament Part II, Dedede even swings peacefully with Kirby and doesn't even mind his presence. It is shown that Kirby might have a few harsh feelings for Dedede too, as he sometimes shows he doesn't like his plans (mainly if it's against food), and seems to find pleasure in pulling pranks on him and scaring him. Point being of all this, King Dedede respects Kirby, but doesn't show it.

Dedede's respect for Kirby was fully shown in "D'Preciation Day". After feeding Kirby bombs as a prank, the explosion drove Dedede into thinking that Kirby was dead. However, once he realized that Kirby wasn't dead, and Kirby's funeral was a counterprank by the Cappys, Dedede was overjoyed, and (instead of being angry at the Cappys for fooling him,) claimed that he always needed Kirby as someone to compete with.

Meta Knight
Although there are many episodes where Dedede and Meta Knight are seen together, they rarely interact. This may even be a reference to the games, where the only times they are seen together is in the Meta Knightmare subgames. However, it is known that Dedede respects Meta Knight, although he falsely believes that Meta Knight is "on his side".

Escargoon
Dedede sees Escargoon as his primary punching bag, even when it isn't Escargoon that makes him angry. Thus, Escargoon repeatedly insults Dedede, although there are times when Dedede does not respond, either because he's busy or because he is too dim witted to notice. At times, Dedede seems to feel sympathy for Escargoon, but for the most part he is just simply cruel to him, such as stealing his prized jewel collection for selfish purposes. Dedede even started scaring Escargoon until Escargoon got him back but good. The two do work together like by setting up traps for Cappies, but most of the time, their traps would backfire on the two. Dedede often treats Escargoon like a child, making him wear silly bibs and bonnets while eating.

Tiff
Tiff is Dedede's opponent and criticizes him publicly more than anyone else. She is constantly suspicious of him, but often cannot find enough evidence or do anything to stop him until it is too late, so Dedede doesn't worry about it too much. Dedede never goes as far as killing her, although he still despises her nonetheless. He uses her as bait for Kirby, so he can be able to pummel him. He has used Tiff, Tuff & Kirby as his targets, which has harmed them in many ways, such as trying to trick them into doing something for him and then trying to defeat them and destroy Kirby. But he was usually foiled by his pink rival. Dedede and Tiff gave no respect for each other. He often makes fun of her just because he has the opportunity to do so. Dedede sees her brother and other children as pests. King Dedede doesn't really get along with Tiff, but they do work together with Kirby and the others eventually to save Dream Land.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
King Dedede also appeared in Brawl. His role in the Story-Mode isn't very important first. At the beginning he is seen turning Luigi into a statue and stealing Wario's car. Later, he becomes a statue too. His role is getting more important as Mario, Kirby, Link and the others are turned into statues when they are in Subspace. King Dedede, Peach, Luigi, & Ness are still in the real world are turned back to normal after being statues because of specially developed badges that Dedede created in advance. Having only three on hand, he selflessly leaves himself without one and is returned later by another character. They go to the Subspace too and succeed at making Mario & others back to normal. King Dedede can also be used to fight Tabuu.