Meta Knight

"You have much yet to learn."

- Meta Knight in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Meta Knight is an anti-villain from the Kirby franchise. He is the leader of a group called the Meta-Knights (Sword Knight, Blade Knight, Axe Knight, Javelin Knight, Trident Knight, Mace Knight, Captain Vul, and Sailor Waddle Dee).

Though he was the primary antagonist of Revenge of Meta Knight in Kirby Superstar, in which he attempts to put an end to the lazy lifestyle of the inhabitants of Dreamland, with the Halberd, he is otherwise either absent or is helping Kirby. His one role as an antagonist stems from good intentions, calling into question his role as a villain.

Kirby's Adventure/Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland
Meta Knight's first appearance, albeit unnamed. In this game, King Dedede, after splitting the Star Rod into several pieces to prevent the evil Nightmare from wreaking havoc on Dreamland, recruits Meta Knight and the Meta-Knights to protect one of the Star Rod's pieces.

Throughout every world, Meta Knight would send his soldiers after Kirby in order to stop him, although, alternatively, this can be seen as Meta Knight trying to prepare him for Nightmare. He later duels Kirby at the base of his operations, Orange Ocean.

When Meta Knight loses, his mask is split in two, revealing his face. Meta Knight then quickly retreats.

Kirby Super Star/Kirby Super Star Ultra
Perhaps his most famous role, Meta Knight is the main villain of the sub-game Meta Knight's Revenge (this revenge is probably for his humiliating defeat in the previous game). In this sub- game, Meta Knight plans to end the lazy lifestyle of Dreamland by force, using the Halberd. However his plan is foiled by Kirby who defeats him in a duel, destroys the Halberd and escapes on a Wheelie Bike. This is Meta Knight's first and so far, only villainous role.

In the remake, Kirby Super Star Ultra, Meta Knight once again has his own sub-game. This time it is a relevant story. After going trough Kirby's adventures form the original Super Star (excluding Gourmet Race), Meta Knight revives the comet NOVA and, to become stronger, he wishes to fight the greatest warrior in the galaxy, Galacta Knight. He defeats Galacta Knight and is thus, the greatest (technically one of the greatest) warrior in the galaxy.

Kirby and the Amazing Mirror
In this game, Meta Knight has a more heroic appearance. Right from the get-go he flies to the parallel Mirror World to save it from danger, but is instead kidnapped by his evil Mirror World counterpart, Dark Meta Knight. Dark Meta Knight then proceeds to split Kirby into four separate Kirby's. When the four Kirby's gather all the Mirror Shards, they encounter Meta Knight and his Dark counterpart. The four Kirby's defeat Dark Meta Knight and are sucked into a portal, and Meta Knight tosses his sword after them so they can fight Dark Mind. He later puts said sword in a pedestal.

Kirby's Epic Yarn
Alongside King Dedede, Meta Knight is ambushed by the yarn sorcerer, Yin-Yarn, and warped into Patch Land. He is the boss of the seventh world, Space Land, where he is controlled by a machine producing magical swords. Once Kirby arrives and defeats Meta Knight by snatching and tossing away all of the swords, he aids Kirby and Prince Fluff by warping them to Dream Land to stop Yin-Yarn from turning everything to yarn. When Yin-Yarn turns into Mecha Yin-Yarn, Meta Knight drops a Tankbot metamortex for Kirby and Prince Fluff to transform and defeat the sorcerer.

Kirby: Planet Robobot
When the Haltmann Works Company invade Popstar and begin mechanizing the landscape, Meta Knight attempts to use the Halberd to fight against the mothership, the Access Ark, but the Halberd is shot down instantaneously. Afterwards, Meta Knight is captured by the alien invaders and mechanized by their Mother Computer, Star Dream, into a cyborg warrior known as Mecha Knight. Kirby encounters Mecha Knight twice in the game, the first encounter in Gigabyte Grounds and later in the Access Ark center where he is upgraded by Susie to become Mecha Knight +, but is once again defeated by Kirby. His mechanic mask shatters, breaking him out of his hypnosis and returns to his senses.

Shortly after Kirby defeats President Haltmann and Star Dream flies out to destroy all life in the cosmos, Meta Knight arrives with the Halberd and orders Kirby and his Robobot Armor to hop on. Instead, Kirby uses his Robobot to absorb the Halberd, and uses it to defeat Star Dream in a galactic dogfight. In the last moments, Star Dream fires a laser at the Halberd, damaging it, and Meta Knight ejects Kirby and the Robobot and pilots the Halberd back to Dream Land while Kirby drills Star Dream through the Access Ark, destroying both machines for good. Meta Knight is last seen observing Popstar return the normal aboard the Halberd.

In the sub-game Meta Knightmare Returns, unlocked after completing the game, Meta Knight once again rushes through all of Kirby's stages. After defeating Haltmann in the Access Ark, Star Dream - viewing Meta Knight as its new administrator - creates clones of Dark Matter Blade and Queen Sectonia to test the knight's strength. After Meta Knight defeats the two, Star Dream summons a portal containing Galacta Knight to serve as the third and final test. Galacta Knight seemingly destroys Star Dream by slashing it and engages Meta Knight, only to be defeated and resealed back into his dimension.

Kirby Star Allies
Meta Knight is infected by a Jamba Heart caused by Hyness summoning Void Termina, serving as the boss of the second area. He splits into four clones after taking enough damage, though the real clone takes more damage. After he is defeated and freed from the Jamba Heart, he can join Kirby's team as a Dream Friend, where his moveset is identical to his appearance in Kirby's Return to Dream Land. Alternatively, Kirby can befriend Meta Knight right away by throwing a heart immediately after defeating him.

Kirby: Right Back at Ya!
Meta Knight appeared as an anti-hero as well as ally for Kirby in the anime. Originally he was a Star Warrior alongside Kirby who fought in the war with Nightmare's monsters, as well as one of the only survivors. He assisted Tiff and himself to help Kirby defeat enemies from Nightmare Enterprises that King Dedede has ordered. He also shown reveal Kirby's past in Tiff's dream.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Meta Knight was one of many newcomers in the game. In Adventure mode, He first encounters Marth and has a brief duel with him, but the two quickly joins forces to defeat the Primids attacking them. They later encounter Ike, who becomes their teammate.

Later, the three swordsmen meet a robot known as Galleom and defeats him. After saving Lucas and the Pokemon trainer, Meta Knight and the Ice Climbers climb a HUGE mountain, where Meta Knight duels with Lucario.

After the dual, they board the Halberd and team up with Snake. After retaking the Halberd, Meta Knight joins the other heroes in the battle against the Subspace Army and their leader, Tabuu.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U
Meta Knight returns as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. for the Wii U and 3DS. Meta Knight appears to be heavily reduced than his Brawl counterpart, especially with the removal of his glide ability.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Meta Knight will return as a playable character for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Trivia

 * In Kirby Nightmare in Dreamland, Kirby Super Star Ultra, and Kirby: Planet Robobot, Meta Knight has his own sub-games, known as Meta Knightmare, Meta Knightmare Ultra, and Meta Knightmare Returns, respectively, where he's playable.
 * Brawl was the first time Meta Knight had a voice in a game. But Kirby's Avalanche was his first speaking role and Kirby Super Star was his first canon speaking role.
 * Meta Knight is not actually evil, as most of his roles has him challenging Kirby to a fight or doing good deeds. Even his role in TV series Kirby: Right Back At Ya! is more heroic than in the games, as he appears as a sort of mentor, helping Kirby and others, though only when he absolutely has to. He also has a habit of appearing seemingly from nowhere, helping Kirby and his friends in times of need.
 * In addition, in the TV series Kirby: Right Back At Ya!, Meta Knight has mysteriously have a lot of knowledge about Kirby's abilities, explaining them to Tiff and Tuff for every ability's debut. This is possibly due to the fact that he looks like Kirby without his mask.