The Kirby Fun Facts Page!

Meta Knight

One thing.. I love Meta Knight, he's on my top list of Favorite characters! In second place to kirby!
“         You have much yet to learn.”
— Meta Knight • Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Meta Knight is a major character in the Kirby series appearing in most of the games, manga, as well as the anime. The intrigue and popularity surrounding Meta Knight within the Kirby fandom largely lies in his shrouded motives and his striking likeness to Kirby himself. Meta Knight is the leader of an army of soldiers known as the Meta-Knights, and captains a large airship called Battleship Halberd which may accompany him into the heat of battle. Although Meta Knight first appeared in Kirby's Adventure in 1993, his true name was not known in the U.S. until the game Kirby's Avalanche was released in 1995.

Meta Knight wears his trademark attire, which is his silver mask and his blue or dark purple Dimensional Cape with gold trimmings, and a pair of patched or metallic shoes. He has retractable bat-like wings and flies with them in the games. The wings' first prominent use is in Kirby Super Star, where Meta Knight chased Kirby near the end of Revenge of Meta Knight. In Kirby Air Ride, he can fly with them whenever he takes part in a race. Meta Knight's weapon of choice is usually the Galaxia Sword, which is a spiked golden sword with an embedded ruby in the hilt.

Meta Knight's most well-known trait is the fact that he is very rarely seen with his mask off. In a few games, his mask is split into two upon defeat, revealing a blue face near-identical to Kirby's with misty white eyes, a mouth, and bright pink cheeks. In the event that he is ever unmasked, he immediately departs the field of battle. His similarity to Kirby has led to speculation that he is a member of Kirby's species.

His pauldrons always have a yellow lining and often gray in color, but are sometimes dark blue. In Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Kirby's Return to Dream Land, his left pauldron bears a version of his insignia, which is an "M" in front of a downward-pointing sword. Meta Knight's cape is blue in all instances except Super Smash Bros. Brawl, where it is purple. The blushes on his face are almost always clearly pink, though they were toned very light in Kirby Super Star.
Meta Knight's mask apparently gives a yellowish tint to the wearer's eyes. Meta Knight's white eyes turn yellow, and Kirby's blue eyes become light green (first seen in Super Smash Bros. Brawl). His eyes also change color with his emotions in the anime. When they are blue, he feels happy or content; pink, he is amused, or something grabbed his attention; green, he is in deep thought, focused on something, or solving a problem. When they turn dark red, he is angry, or possibly disturbed or suspicious. If they ever flash a mix of colors, he feels all the emotions that he is flashing.
Personality
Due to Meta Knight's way of doing things and his often-hidden intentions, the relationship between Kirby and Meta Knight is unpredictable in nature, and range from being bitter rivals to being steadfast allies to one another and can change at a moment's notice. Meta Knight is a playable character in many spin-offs, and is presented in many of the newer games as a "friend or foe" character.
As a knight, he respects a code of chivalry, and always offers Kirby a sword whenever he fights against him. In Meta Knightmare Ultra  he is shown trying to become the greatest warrior in the galaxy, suggesting he prides himself in his strength and skill, yet wishes to continue to grow stronger.
The Revenge of Meta Knight sub-game reveals that Meta Knight abhors laziness, to the point where he was willing to start a war and take over Dream Land just to end what he perceived as a "lazy lifestyle." This is only seen in Kirby Super Star and Kirby Super Star Ultra.
Interestingly, he never seems to want his face revealed, immediately retreating when his mask is broken and falls off. The reason for this is never explained.
Meta Knight often waits on high platforms such as this while waiting for Kirby to grab the sword.
In the anime, his personality is much different than in the games. It is much clearer that he is on Kirby's side here. He is shown to passively observe events, and only interfere when needed. However, his training methods are often harsh and dangerous, often putting Kirby's life in danger. Unlike in the games, he does not seem to hold any opinion towards the laziness of others, and is much less mysterious, as his motives in the anime are rarely ever hidden.
In both the games and the anime, he is often seen standing on high areas, platforms, tree branches, and statues. This may be a strategical move to prevent being attacked before the battle or to get a better view, but the reason is never officially explained.

Weaponry
Dimensional Cape
Meta Knight's Dimensional Cape (as named in Super Smash Bros. Brawl) allows him to manipulate space, and is a powerful weapon in its own right. His signature cape never received its official name, until relatively recently, much like Galaxia.
Meta Knight most commonly wraps it around himself to teleport away. This tends to happen whenever his face is briefly revealed, or when he knows he has been defeated. He seems to be able to summon it at will. In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Meta Knight can also use it to ebb out of reality for a short time. In his Final Smash Attack, the cape is used to petrify his enemies and cover the surrounding area in complete darkness, leaving them open to attacks from his sword.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl and his trophy in Super Smash Bros. Melee suggested that the pair of bat-like wings which grant him flight and gliding capabilities are really an extension of the cape. This is also demonstrated in Kirby's Epic Yarn, where the cape is seen fluidly transforming into the wings in Meta Knight's yarn form. This is not consistently the case, however. In older games and in Kirby's Return to Dream Land, he is seen throwing his cape aside, revealing that his wings are underneath the cape.
Galaxia
The sword Galaxia is a solid gold blade with a ruby embedded in its hilt, with anywhere between zero to six spikes protruding from its sharp edges. In earlier games, the spikes were absent from Meta Knight's then-unnamed sword.
In the games, Galaxia is capable of shooting out sword beams and standard sword moves. In Meta Knightmare Ultra, it absorbs the energy of a defeated foe, allowing Meta Knight to use special actions like the Mach Tornado, Meta Quick and Heal.
In the anime the sword has sacred origins, having been created by a race of light.

Games
Kirby's Adventure and Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land
Meta Knight debuted in Kirby's Adventure as a minor character and a boss. When Nightmare tries to take control of Dream Land by corrupting the Fountain of Dreams, King Dedede entrusts Meta Knight with a piece of the broken Star Rod because he knows that his powers and his followers, the Meta-Knights, would prove to be a valuable asset against Nightmare's forces. He appears again in the game's remake, Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land, with the same role, with his updated design similar to Kirby Super Star.
Throughout the game, Meta Knight sometimes helps Kirby by giving him invincibility candy (only clear in Kirby's Adventure), but also hinders his progress by summoning his foot soldiers against him. By the time Kirby reaches Orange Ocean, Meta Knight challenges Kirby personally before he can reach Rainbow Resort and later the Fountain of Dreams. Meta Knight's true intentions can only be speculated, but it appears that he wishes to prepare Kirby for his final confrontation against Nightmare.
Whenever he fights Kirby, Meta Knight always gives Kirby a sword to fight with (which Kirby must collect in order to fight him). Meta Knight attacks Kirby with his sword as well as by brute force via charging into him; Meta Knight can also block attacks which are thrown his way (becoming increasingly frequent as he loses health). Regarded as one of the most difficult bosses in Kirby's Adventure, the fight against Meta Knight was made significantly easier in the remake. Additionally, his moves are highly telegraphed and thus can be predicted and countered with enough close attention.
During the fight, it is not possible for Kirby to lose the Sword ability, and the ability he had earlier (only if Kirby takes the sword with the ability still in his immediate possession: viable discarded abilities do not count) will be restored after completing the Meta Knight boss fight stage: this is true for both the Main Game and Boss Endurance.
Before the release of Kirby Super Star, Meta Knight was still considered an obscure and underdeveloped character in the series.
In Revenge of Meta Knight, Meta Knight intends to dominate Dream Land to put an end to its lazy lifestyle. With help from the Meta-Knights, Meta Knight's ultimate weapon, the Halberd, spreads its wings and takes to the sky, but Kirby intervenes and attacks the Halberd. Kirby boards the Halberd, which infuriates Meta Knight, so he ends up blasting him down into the ocean below with the Halberd's jets. Kirby gains a Warp Star and attempts to board again, but is shot down by Combo Cannon and lands in the forest. With the help of Dyna Blade, Kirby boards the battleship once more, and destroys it piece by piece. With his crew beaten and his ship losing altitude fast, Meta Knight eventually decides to fight Kirby himself.
Again, he offers Kirby a sword, but this time the player can refuse it if they so desire by not taking it within several seconds. Doing this makes the battle longer, which is potentially dangerous due to the time limit. Meta Knight can parry attacks with his sword during the battle, and summon giant tornadoes to send Kirby up in the air and do damage. Some of his sword slash attacks can be inhaled and spat back at him.
After being defeated, he quickly departs for a rest, giving Kirby time to escape with a dutiful Wheelie that he freed earlier. Before he can do that, Meta Knight returns and flies after him, and the three escape right before the Halberd crashes into the sea below, ending the sub-game.