Ask Guru Gobbo #163

I figure by now, there's no real concern of spoilers regarding the events in Planet Robobot. It's been months, and I beat the initial run of the game in a week -- as Kirby games don't really take that long. Moving on-

Given the pause screen descriptions and other in-game text, Star Dream is not given any relation to NOVA. It is specifically said to have been found and repaired by Haltmann. This means it is entirely suggested to actually be NOVA. Wish granting powers, giant space computer, and even the little superfluous doodads like the compass and weather vane on the sides? Sounds like it is NOVA.

Now, arguably, it is also implied that -- who was it? -- the "Ancients" built many mechanical stars, which we are to assume includes NOVA, who could manifest dreams with their incredible powers. However, we are not given any reason to assume that they are all identical to NOVA. Alternatively, we are not really given much any reason to assume that they are different, either. Think production line, where things are boiler plate copies, versus handmade, where little flourishes are added to give each a unique trait either by intent or the very process.

The implications are, in my opinion at least, that Star Dream is based on the NOVA from Super Star rather than just a NOVA from the galaxy. Whether it was the same parts or -- at least -- the same program that gradual changed its physical form to be more like NOVA is debatable. However, what's the point in having, say, the third cousin twice removed of a major antagonist appear in a long running franchise. There's no thrill in that. Audiences have their eyes explode with sheer joy when they find out that a villain thought long dead returns from the grave -- or at least, their son or something. Note, if they return every sequel, it loses the appeal.

The more I think about this, the more sense it makes. Bandana Dee -- or Bandee as us cool kids call 'im -- first appeared in the original Super Star as the first competitor in Megaton Punch (a fact that I almost forgot about). He was then upgraded in role with the Ultra remake, turning into the King's right-hand Dee in the Revenge of the King sub-game. After this, he turns into everyone's friend, being an ally in Return to Dream Land and tossing assist items in Triple Deluxe and Planet Robobot.

Now, the weirdness of Revenge aside, Bandee appears to be friends with both King Dedede and Kirby, which, yes, was the same status held by the Waddle Dee in The Crystal Shards (along with Adeleine, the forgotten friend). It makes sense that said friendly, special Waddle Dee would persist throughout the series' canon.

Of course, nothing supports this theory. There is no hints, no suggestions, no... mention by Bandee about knowing a Ripple Star fairy. At best -- in the current state of things -- this is a fan theory or a nice glossing that even out some wrinkles in the sparsely established title arching canon.

While we have been seeing more of the Halberd Crew in recent years, I believe that they have been more often appearing in a piddle manner, as in the side games of Mass Attack -- Kirby Quest and Strato Patrol EOS -- and as Meta Knight's screen bomb attack in Planet Robobot's Meta Knightmare Returns. Whether or not they will jump from inconsequential to -- I dunno what you want, playable characters? -- something more, that is an impossible guess. With the still-strong popularity of Meta Knight, I'm frankly shocked that he hasn't gone the way of Mario's Wario, Sonic's Knuckles, and Mega Man X's Zero, spawning his own, stand-alone title. Should this happen, then I'd imagine that they would have to promote the crew into a more prominent position -- unless they go the, ugh, "animated series" route and just make up a bunch of characters.

1) Well, they are both called Dark Matter for starters. That's a pretty good start. Secondly, they are both the representation of "bad feels" and negative emotions. A big, black blob of eeevil with a red eye tends to look like, well, a big, black blob with a red eye. Not too much variation that can be done with that, know?

Sorta think about the main big-bad from, oh, most RPGs or anime: the big, angelic, super-death thing? I can honestly say I couldn't tell you one Final Fantasy boss from the other if I had to just remember who they were.

2) Her illustrating such does not necessarily mean that there is television on Pop Star. Mechanical devices and other technologies have been known to Dream Landers (see Mecheye and Shiver Star), and Pon and Con, the tag team tanuki and fox from Dream Land 3, seem like the type of comedic mismatched pairing to get their own show. She may have only been doodling something that she desired to see, not something that she had seen (e.g. any teenage girl's notebook margin, a jest that probably doesn't hold up in an age where teenagers don't take notes in actual paper-bound notebooks). This odd couple is made more obvious when you learn that the tribes of fox and tanuki are bitter rivals in Japanese folklore. Not violent rivals, that role goes -- apparently -- to dogs in the case of both. So, Kirby is a dog? It all makes sense now! (wonder how fast that nonsense will get spread throughout the interwebs? you're move, Kirby Wikia!)

3) Clearly the answer is that Kirby did not think about doing such at the time. And, who knows, maybe he needed a whole game's length of experience to get that procedure mastered to the point of being able to pull off a Halberd integration? Also -- um -- Gigavolt was always far in the background. So, you know, outside of the standard range. But in space, the rules are different for... robot armor... object download?

None, at all. Nightmare is not related to Dark Matter in any way. The Dark Matter Swordsman doesn't even have a face or hands. It's "face" is just a single eye behind a visor -- the sole facial feature had by the entire Zero family -- and the sword just sorta ... floats before it. A picture for reference / prove it did happen.

That's the site's personal version of a CAPTCHA system to prevent bots and such from submitting forms on pages. It is taken from a mini-game in Dream Land 3. If logged in to a Passport account, this validation is skipped in future goings.

As for the color blind thing, that's a good point. The colors were just taken exactly from those that appeared in the game. I'll have to mention this to the creator of the system of an alternate version using the different faced Gordos instead.

That sounds very specist. So, all apes are immediately related? Are all of the avians tied together? Is Birdon connected to Twizzy? One could make the argument that the latter has some tie with Tookey as it is the Extra Game replacement model. At least if Oohroo has some hammer motif or had a name similar to Bonkers, there would be some room to at least draw a comparison. No, Oohroo is just a race of space apes-things.

Nice try? That's honestly -- all of it -- straight from the game. The theme of the entire game is that Kirby was split apart and made less powerful, crawling over enemies like ants. It shows Kirby be reduced in size at the start, it shows the tiny pieces fit back to the full size at the end, and -- yes -- insensibly shows Kirby appearing to be the same size as characters who were never shown to be reduced in size. Yeah, it's really dumb.

The Squeak Squad, at least, are merely reused sprites -- from what I can tell -- from Mouse Attack, er, Squeak Squad. That is merely a lazy oversight and, probably, part of a last-minute game addition to have a reason for magical MacGuffins.

As to why King Dedede -- unless some sort of weird, micro copy which doesn't seem likely given that the "evil vapors" are drawn from him to suggest possession by the big bad -- is seemingly small along with Kirby, I would guess another lazy oversight but this one without the easy-out explanation. After the reduction and various environment interactions at the mismatched scale, very little else appears to reflect the change in size. Again, I think sprite reuse had a lot to do with this fact. Why remake the wheel, etc. Also, they probably figured, "I mean, it's a video game. It's not like some pathetic, lonely nerd is scrutinize over every detail of inconsistency on the internet. Wait, no, that's all nerds and all they ever do."

Way to prove them right, Hantho.

1) I know I've talked on this in the past, both a long time ago and at a later date that I can never seem to dig back up. However, after more I came to a new understanding about Mirror Country, and after even more time, I've come to a bigger understanding which -- for once -- will be a new thought on the matter.

1) As previously mentioned in my tirade, there are no mirror world versions of characters. Only the direct copies of Meta Knight and Kirby . Mirror Country is a land with mirrors and not, as many believe it to be, a distorted reflection of Dream Land. It has mirrors, they work like doors, and they "reflect wishes" which were perverted by Dark Mind. Now, with that basic ground work out of the way -

Dark Mind, upon the release of Amazing Mirror, appeared to be a fusion of Dark Matter and Nightmare, a resemblance that further fueled the "everybody is somebody else" wide-spread belief. In truth, I was in this camp at one point. Nowadays, however, let's look at Magolor Soul, let's look at Necrodeus. Do they look familiar? Floating body, only arms, fancy headgear, big eye chest? Dark Mind wasn't a fusion, he was just the start of a trend that would be applied to many more final bosses to come.

So, hah! Not copping out by saying both but defying with neither.

2) Not a flame, although you are the second person to think that (source unable to be found; see Mailbag #81 for the closest thing I could recover). That "flame" is more of a pointy, horned goblin-gumdrop with a curly tail. Think, for in-game reference, an armless, devil Broom Hatter. An' you can't blame that one on color blindness. Or... can you?

1) No, Miracle Matter is not the same individual as Zero of any number. Dark Matter, for example, is probably best explained as a bee hive. They function as a single entity but consist of many, separate bodies. The various Dark Matters are the scouts while Zero is the queen -- so to speak. Now, the actual "dark matter" is the black gunky stuff that comprises these similarly named Dark Matters (they all really do have names, given mostly in Crystal Shards but are very uninteresting and not worth the bother for me to look up, many Rimu and Remu for two examples?).

Likewise, I've always viewed "miracle matter" as the stuff of Zero. Rather than the stuff of darkness and null, it represented a quintessence or omni-element, clearly demonstrated in the use of every copy ability. Basically, it's a blob of a different stuff, separate but still connected to the mastermind Zero. M.M. is a similar role to the Dark Matters, but perhaps of a higher importance, maybe like a soldier instead of a worker drone.

2) Uncle Gobbo's Advice on Relationships: avoid 'em! Leaves more time for vijyo-games and tubes of cookie dough for breakfast. Also, a drastically shorter lifespan.