In a Mario game, we can expect to face off against Bowser, and in Zelda, we can expect to counter Ganon or one of his incarnations, and while Kirby does have some recurring villains, he tends to have quite a bit more variety compared to fellow Nintendo protagonists.
Over Kirby's many games, he has faced a wide variety of villains, many of which having darker motivations than many would expect from games as cute as Kirby. While Kirby games don't tend to have a massive focus on story and lore, this does not mean that the villains he battles against are not interesting and worth looking at a bit closer. Kirby has starred in plenty of games over the years, so which are the best villains he's faced?
9 Dark Matter
A Kirby antagonist hailing from the pink puffballs earlier years is Dark Matter. While they have not shown up in too many of the recent entries, aside from costumes and cameos, Dark Matter used to be one of the biggest threats Kirby fought against.
Dark Matter is a relatively simple villain, aiming to turn every planet into a dark world where this species can thrive. While Dark Matter is technically subservient to another villain, Zero, Dark Matter being the original gives it a bit of an edge.
8 President Haltmann
One of the more recent Kirby villains is President Haltmann, one of the main antagonists in Planet Robobot. Haltmann is responsible for attacking Kirby's home, Planet Popstar and attempting to industrialize the planet.
Haltmann is shown to be absorbed by greed and to have even forgotten about his daughter Susie, who also works for him, but ends up betraying him and helping Kirby in their final encounter so she can have her old father back.
7 Queen Sectonia
Queen Sectonia is the main villain Kirby has to face against in Kirby: Triple Deluxe. The queen is described to have fallen prey to the powers of the Dimension Mirror. The Mirror fed on her pre-existing vanity and building on this until she became obsessed with her appearance.
She once resembled her general and old friend Taranza, but sacrificed that body for her new wasp-like look. Taranza is betrayed by his queen in her obsession over beauty and power and ends up having to ally with Kirby, forced to take down his old friend.
6 Nightmare
Like Dark Matter, Nightmare is one of Kirby's oldest villains. It's the second ever antagonist Kirby has faced, being the main villain in the second Kirby game, Kirby's Adventure. Nightmare attempted to inhabit the Fountain of Dreams to ensure that the residents of Dream Land only experienced painful nightmares, but is locked away by King Dedede.
Kirby accidentally unlocks the seal, not having known what Dedede was doing. This means Kirby is tasked with gathering the pieces of the Star Rod and eventually defeating Nightmare.
5 Magalor
Magalor is a perfect example of a common trope for some Kirby villains, being a cute looking sidekick that ends up betraying Kirby after manipulating him. Magalor is the main antagonist in Kirby's Return To Dream Land.
Magalor's ship crashed on Dream Land under mysterious circumstances, and after Kirby helps him fix it, he takes his ship back to his home dimension, where it is again wrecked by the dragon Landia. After defeating Landia, Magalor swoops in, steals the Master Crown, and uses its power to transform into the final boss.
4 Meta Knight
While Meta Knight has spent most of his recent years in the Kirby series appearing as one of Kirby's friends, it is worth remembering that he originated as a rival of Kirby's. His most notable appearance as an antagonist is in the sub-game of Kirby Super Star called Revenge of Meta Knight.
Here, he aims to end the lazy lifestyle of the residents in Dream Land using his airship, the Halberd. Kirby, lazy icon, is tasked with taking him down, and succeeds, with Meta Knight begrudgingly giving up.
3 Marx
Kirby Super Star and its many sub stories house plenty of villains, with Marx from Milky Way Wishes. Here, he manipulates Kirby into gathering the power to summon the wish granting Comet Nova so Kirby can stop the sun and moon from fighting.
In the last moment, Marx swoops in and steals the wish from Kirby, using it to gain power to rule over Planet Popstar. Kirby doesn't take this lightly and manages to chase down Marx, subsequently defeating him and Comet Nova, restoring peace to Popstar.
2 Fecto Forgo/Elfilis
When Kirby's companion Elfilin was revealed in Kirby and the Forgotten Land, almost every Kirby veteran was hesitant to trust it after the betrayal of characters like Marx and Magalor. This ended up semi-manifesting with the amnesiac Eliflin being revealed to be the other half of Fecto Forgo, the psychic villain pulling the strings throughout the game.
Forgo is able to pull in the innocent Elifilin turning the pair into Fecto Elifilis, the final boss. After the harrowing fight against Fecto Elifilis, Elifilin is freed, ending the main narrative of Forgotten Land.
1 King Dedede
While the litany of one-or-two-game villains give the Kirby series a great sense of variety, it's hard to overlook the impact of the original adversary for Kirby, King Dedede. Like Kirby, King Dedede has a huge appetite, and this is the basis of their very first conflict. In Kirby's first game, Kirby's Dream Land, the self-proclaimed King stole all the food and stars in Dream Land, and Kirby is tasked with returning both to save the people of Dream Land. Since then, while Dedede has occasionally reprised his villainous streak, he tends to be more of a friend to Kirby, aiding him against whatever new villain threatens Dream Land.