King Dedede

"Good day, all of my loyal, poor commoners!" —King Dedede, Hoshi no Kābī

King Dedede (デデデ大王, Dedede Daiō) is a major recurring antagonist (and anti-hero) to Kirby in Nintendo and HAL Labs' long-running Kirby video game series, appearing in every game except Kirby and the Amazing Mirror, making him the most recurring major character of the series besides Kirby himself. He is the greedy king of Dream Land, which is located on the quaint planet Pop Star.

Due to an ambiguous description of the geography of Pop Star, it is never made entirely clear how much of the planet King Dedede assumes rulership of, though he seems to have castles and fortresses all across the planet. Even so, he seems to perform no administrative functions, and for the most part, the planet seems to ignore any edicts that are issued by him.

Description
King Dedede resembles a large birdlike creature, he is a penguin-like being (much like Pengi) dressed in red royal finery, with his personal emblem (a picture of himself performing the peace sign, or, in the anime and later games, just the hand alone performing the sign) embossed on the back of his robe, as well as most of the items or weaponry he owns and/or endorses. King Dedede himself is rather portly, and has blue skin with a tan belly (a detail left out in many earlier games). In addition, he has a red and yellow zigzag-patterned girdle-like band stretched across his waist. His flipper-like hands are portrayed as either blue or yellow, depending on the games. Most recently it has been revealed that in these later games these yellow hands may actually just be gloves. His trademark weapon is a large (possibly mechanized) star-studded hammer that he wields as an offensive weapon and can swing around with the greatest of ease. He is able to suck in objects and spit them out in a manner similar to Kirby, and following Kirby's Dream Land, he apparently underwent a series of rigorous training programs to be able to use inhaled air to fly, in the same manner as Kirby.

Although not necessarily evil, he causes many problems for the inhabitants of Dream Land through selfish mischief, most of his actions in the series have him causing easily correctable problems for the inhabitants of Dream Land, such as stealing their food or bathing on top of the Fountain of Dreams. He has also been possessed thrice by Dark Matter. Some of his more heinous actions are done while under the control of this foe. Despite this, he and Kirby have teamed up on occasions with the purpose of taking down a greater common foe. While it is rumored that some of his absurd behavior is caused by an indescribable complex where he has a hatred for stars (which is inconvenient, considering the entire planet is shaped like a star), this can't be due to the fact that he has a star on either side of his trademark hammer.

Games
Dedede first appeared in Kirby's Dream Land, where he and several thieves acting on his part steal the majority of Dream Land's food, and in either an attempt to crush morale, or simply to cause needless mischief, he steals the inhabitant's treasured Sparkling Stars and gives them to his underlings. Appearing as the final boss of the game, his actions are reversed by Kirby upon his defeat, with a finishing blow that sends him flying through the ceiling of his castle.

Dedede's Theme Music
King Dedede is widely recognized for the theme song that often plays during battles against him. The song was used for the Dedede battle in Kirby's Dream Land 1, 2, and 3, Kirby Super Star, and Kirby: Squeak Squad. Although it was not in the original NES version of Kirby's Adventure (he got the generic Boss Music), it was added in the GBA remake, Nightmare in Dream Land, for the Boss Tower stage. A remixed version of the song was also used during the races against the Dedede Painting in Kirby Canvas Curse. The version of the song from Kirby Super Star also appears in Kirby Air Ride, as an unlockable song for the FIRE track.Another theme associated with King Dedede is the theme from the Gourmet Race mini-game in Kirby Super Star. An orchestral version of this theme is employed during battle against him in Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land, as well as the Fountain of Dreams stage of Super Smash Bros. Melee. Both King Dedede's Theme and the Gourmet Race theme feature as alternate music for the Battleship Halberd Stage in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the former being a remix, the latter being of the Metal genre. The orchestral version of Gourmet Race also returns as alternate music used for the Green Greens Stage. The Gourmet Race and Fountain of Dreams songs are both remixes of DeDeDe's theme.

Hoshi no Kābī anime
King Dedede's appearance in the anime is somewhat different then in the games. He is portrayed as more "evil" than he is in the games, with a meaner disposition (he is also much less intelligent and more bumbling). In the original Japanese anime, he likes to end sentences with "-zoi" and 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 English dub by Ted Lewis (who was credited as Ed Paul).

In the pilot episode of Hoahi no Kābī, 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.