Overview
The order of their names in the pairing implies that Meta Knight is the more dominant of the two.
In the games, Kirby's gender is official listed as "unknown", and while Meta Knight has a masculine appearance, he also has no official gender listed. In localization (particularly English), however, both are referred to as male.
Depending on the artist, portrayals of them can be NL, BL, or even GL (albeit quite rarely).
In the game
In the games, the two can be shown as friends or enemies.
In "Kirby's Adventure" for NES, the game which introduced Meta Knight, Meta Knight is a boss for Kirby to fight. Before this moment, he would send his men, the "Meta-Knights", after Kirby, as well as give them invincibility lollipops.
There is still no known reason as for why he would help Kirby before fighting them.
Under Meta Knight's mask, his face looks similar to Kirby's, but the relationship between the two is still unknown.
Meta Knight is often portrayed as a rival to Kirby, but has also just as often (if not more-so) been friendly with Kirby, even teaming up to defeat enemies together.
Some games where they are shown to have a positive relationship are
- "Kirby and the Amazing Mirror"
- "Kirby's Epic Yarn"
- "Kirby's Return to Dream Land" (As well as its remake)
- "Kirby and the Rainbow Curse" (Although minimal, he is called Kirby's friend in Elline's diary.)
- "Kirby: Planet Robobot" (In the ending, Meta Knight's shadow is seen before Kirby wakes up after passing out."
In the anime
The anime spin-off series, which aired for a total of 100 episodes on TBS affiliate stations from October 2001 to September 2003, has a different setting than the games.
Kirby is a newly awakened baby star warrior, and Sir Meta Knight, a former star warrior who has been waiting for Kirby's awakening for many years, is in a position to watch over Kirby's growth as a full-fledged warrior, a relationship similar to that of a teacher and student or father and child.
Because of this, Sir Meta Knight is sometimes called "Papa Knight" by some fans.
In the novels
In the novels written by Mie Takase, Kirby speaks normally, unlike in the games and anime.
Kirby frequently is shown to be friendly with Meta Knight, and frequently jumps onto Meta knight when they miss him.
On the other hand, Meta Knight is often shown to be disappointed in Kirby's innocence, and frequently gets into small fights with King Dedede. Yet he also seems to have respect and feelings of friendship for Kirby.
Other media
In the manga "Kirby of the Stars: Mo~retsu Pupupu Hour", by Asami Taniguchi, Meta Knight falls in love with Kirby who is dressed as a woman, asking them to marry him, even saying he wants 10 children.
In recent times they have frequently appeared as a pair in merchandise before, as well as friendly together in group illustrations.
In 2017, there was a pair of rings representing the two. external link
