lair-of-baro - Tumblr blog

lair-of-baro · 6 months

Text

Dark Matter: a profile

Aside from King Dedede, the most reoccuring antagonist in the Kirby franchise are members of the enigmatic Dark Matter tribe. The tradition of Kirby final bosses being grotesque compared to the rest of the series really started with them and Nightmare in Kirby's Adventure. Unlike Nightmare however, Dark Matter went on to become somewhat of a series staple and when I think of spooky Nintendo lore, they often spring to mind. As such, in this blog post I want to explore Dark Matter.

Dark Matter Trilogy

The first appearance of Dark Matter was in Kirby's Dream Land 2, where it is the true final boss of the game. According to the game's manual, it was responsible for shattering the rainbow bridges connecting the rainbow islands together. It also possesses King Dedede and plans to turn Dream Land into a dark world to inhabit (specifically according to the Japanese Digital 3DS manual). What exactly this means is left unclear in this game. It apparently does this because it is lonely and wants friends, according to an excerpt from the January 2019 issue of the Japanese magazine Nintendo DREAM (translation from Wikirby):

最初に登場したダークマターには、友達が欲しくてちょっと寂しがりやなのでは…という設定も『星のカービィ2』開発当時の社内にあったようですので、今回のフレンズとハートの物語と親和性があるのではとも考えましたが、さすがにダークマターには今はまだ悪役を貫いてほしく (It seems that, when Dark Matter first appeared in Kirby's Dream Land 2, the developers had the idea that he was lonely and wanted to have friends. I thought that this could tie into this game's themes of "friends" and "hearts", but I'd of course prefer for Dark Matter to remain a villain for now.)

When all Rainbow Drops are collected in Dream Land 2 and King Dedede is defeated, the drops turn into a Rainbow Sword and Dark Matter emerges from Dedede. Dark Matter is fought in two forms: one resembling a swordsman and one an eye surrounded by darkness. Of the two, the latter is considered its true form.

Dark Matter returns in Kirby's Dream Land 3, but with heavier guns. The plan is much the same as in Dream Land 2, but this time the stakes are raised. A ball of darkness with a red eye in the center emerges from the depths of space and shatters the rings of Pop Star.

After arriving, the dark cloud spreads five tendrils to five corners of the planet and possesses six beings: Whispy Woods, Acro, Pon/Con, Ado and King Dedede. Kirby and his friend Gooey, who first appeared in Dream Land 2 captured by Dark Matter, set out to face this crisis. During it, they collect heart stars by helping the people of Pop Star and cleanse the darkness from each area by defeating one of the primary possessed beings. All of this culminates in a fight with King Dedede, who probably gets the worst deal out of the possession: a mouth and a Dark Matter eye in his stomach.

If all Heart Stars are gathered, they become the Love-Love Stick after Dedede's defeat. In a similar scenario to Dream Land 2, Kirby follows up Dark Matter to the heart of the black clouds, the Hyper Zone, and defeats Dark Matter. After Dark Matter is gone, a new being called 0 appears. It is a red eye in a larger white body, from which it can spawn smaller Dark Matters. Once 0 is defeated, the Hyper Zone and the black clouds around it collapse. It is thus implied 0 is the source of Dark Matter and may have been behind the events of Dream Land 2 as well.

Another thing that Dream Land 3 adds to the Dark Matter lore has to do with Gooey. According to the manual of the game, he is made of "the same stuff" as Dark Matter but he doesn't have an evil spirit. He also takes on a form similar to Dark Matter during the final battle, which later games have dubbed Mock Matter. Beings can thus be made of the same dark substance as Dark Matter while not being evil. This also adds an additional layer to Gooey in Dream Land 2, as he was captured in that game. Perhaps Dark Matter put him on Pop Star in the first place as a captive.

The final game in the so-called Dark Matter Trilogy is Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards and it involves a plot similar to that of Dream Land 3. Instead, this time the Dark Matter beings target a different planet: Ripple Star, where Fairies live. One of the Fairies escapes with the planet's precious Crystal and three Dark Matters give chase, leading them to Pop Star. This is how Kirby gets involved and the three Dark Matters do their possession shtick: on a Waddle Dee, Adeleine and King Dedede.

After Pop Star, the first world of the game, Dark Matter beings do not play a large role until the end of the game. But the game does introduce a whole slew of new Dark Matter beings. The first is Miracle Matter, who controls the black clouds covering Ripple Star. It has the appearance of a many-sided die, some sides covered in red eyes, and it can take on copy ability-esque forms: Bomb, Burn, Cutter, Ice, Needle, Spark and Stone. The black clouds controlled by Miracle Matter also spit out N-Z enemies, indicating they are made of darkness as well.

The final major Dark Matter being in Kirby 64 is 0², who possessed the Queen of Ripple Star. If Kirby and his friends manage to repair the Fairies' Crystal, the darkness possessing the Queen is dispelled and forms the Dark Star. Inside lurks 0², who resembles 0 but also has an angel motif. This might indicate he is 0 resurrected from the dead, though the relation between the two has thus far been kept vague. Both 0² and Miracle Matter appear to be sources of Dark Matter and dark clouds, similar to 0 at least. When 0² is defeated, the Dark Star collapses similarly to the Hyper Zone and the threat of Dark Matter is dispelled once more.

The final game to introduce a Dark Matter being without much ambiguity is Kirby Squeak Squad. A lot of the game revolves around collecting a particular treasure chest. When it is opened by antagonist Daroach, he is enveloped in a black smoke and turns dark. After his defeat, it is revealed he was possessed by Dark Nebula, a being with an eye similar to both incarnations of 0. It has hallmarks of a Dark Matter being, such as possession, a red eye and even has elemental powers similar to Miracle Matter. It also seemingly creates a black hole near Pop Star after it is released. This all makes sense, as its Japanese name is ダークゼロ or Dark Zero. In addition, it is also not called Ruler of the Underworld in Japanese but 暗黒の支配者/あんこくのしはいしゃ (Ruler of Darkness).

It is interesting to note that this Dark Matter being was not roaming around freely in space, trying to create dark worlds or wanting for friends. Instead, it is sealed in a chest and Meta Knight seemingly knows this, as he tried to keep the chest out of the hands of Kirby and Daroach's Squeaks. This potentially suggests there is a history of Dark Matter invasions that goes back futher than just Dream Land 2.

Origins of Darkness

Starting with Kirby's Return to Dream Land for the Wii and under the directorship of Shinya Kumazaki, the Kirby series became more lore focused. Of this new era of Kirby, Star Allies goes the most in-depth about Dark Matter through the being of Void Termina, the final boss of the game.

Void Termina itself is not a Dark Matter being, but more of an empty creature that is influenced by the energy that surrounds it. This is explained in an interview with Kumazaki. Due to this, during the final battle, he takes on the appearance of Kirby and Dark Matter. Kirby because it is the first thing he sees when being unsealed and Dark Matter due to the darkness gathered by the people trying to revive him.

The people trying to revive Void Termina are a cult who worship him as a God of Destruction. According to their leader Hyness, they also worship "matters most dark" and they revive Void Termina by assembling a vessel he is contained in. This is the Jamba Heart, which consists of smaller Dark Hearts, and it is this darkness that Hyness and his minions gather. The Dark Hearts possess and twist the people that grab them, similar to Dark Matter possession. Due to this darkness, Void Termina takes on the appearance of Dark Matter during the final battle.

There is more background to Void and his relation with darkness however. According to the Japanese description of Void Termina, True Destroyer of Worlds (Phase 2), he is the originator of four types of matter: Soul, Heart, Dream and Dark:

夢ドリームが、闇ダークが、魂ソウルが、心ハートが… その物質に混沌と可能性が全て集い、淵源の祖となり生誕する。 (When the matters of dream, dark, soul, and heart gather... and combine with chaos and infinite possibilities, the ancestor from the origin is born.)

And according to the description of Hyness in the The Ultimate Choice mode, Void produced darkness at some point in the distant past before being sealed in the Jamba Heart by four heroes:

"All that was written about Void Termina in the ancient scrolls was the progenitor of darkness was vanquished by four heroes of yore, using four spears of the heart."

Void producing darkness may be the ultimate origin of the "Dark Matter" substance in the universe, which in turn may have given rise to 0, 0² and Dark Nebula and the rest of the Dark Matter beings produced by them. The "Dark Matter" substance is likely what is seen in Dream Land 2 and 3 forming Hyper Zone and Dark Star. Of note is that upon the collapsing, many Dark Matter eyes can be seen in Dark Star, similar to the red eye in the Hyper Zone.

Other appearances

In the Kirby series, there are several other beings that might be made of or are connected to Dark Matter, though it is a lot more loose:

Dark Matter Clone: a clone of Dark Matter's Dream Land 2 incarnation made by the supercomputer Star Dream. It appears in the Meta Knightmare Returns mode of Planet Robobot, which is set in a world parallel to the main Kirby one. It only appears in its swordsman form and wields the Rainbow Sword, based on its memories of his defeat at the hands of Kirby.

Dark Mind: a being inhabiting the world that lays in the Dimension Mirror. Its true form looks like a fiery version of 0 and it formed from evil minds gathering and being born in the mirror according to Kumazaki. These "evil minds" may be a form of darkness/Dark Matter substance. Of note is that Shadow Dedede, another being spawned by the Dimension Mirror, has similar attacks to Dedede's possessed form in Dream Land 3. A mix between Dark Mind and Shadow Dedede, King D-Mind, appears in the two Kirby Clash games.

Dark Crafter: a single-eyed smoke being that drained Dream Land of all its color in Kirby and the Rainbow Curse. It operates by possessing Claycia and during its fight, it is revealed that under its colorful appearance, it looks like it is made of darkness.

Conclusion

That is most of what there is to say about Dark Matter lore-wise. A persistent enemy in the Kirby canon that is made of pure darkness and can twist the minds and appearances of those it possesses, with a potential origin that goes back to a being worshiped as a God of Destruction. In short, a black of darkness spot in a series that is otherwise mostly cute and wholesome.

40 notes · View notes