General Kirby Lore
What's This?
All the background information for my interpretation of the Kirby Uni-/Multiverse. Stuff that is not exactly part of plots and character stories, but is important to understand things. I'd recommend you read this stuff before diving into any other ancients related nonsense I've written in the timeline and AUs section.
Kirby's species lore and how it intertwines with the magic system and therefore the universe history are my biggest focuses of interest in this section. Sociology is my favorite area of study and demi-god/angel-like characters are my favorite archetypes - it all comes together.
As well I'd like to explain some tiny quirks of my worldbuilding here before anything else:
PLANETS AND STARS
I've heard that the reason a -star suffix is added to many planets in the Kirby universe is because in Japanese the word for stars and planets are synonymous. I think that's cool and I'm keeping it in the universe vocabulary.
RACE AND SPECIES
Traditionally in fantasy "race" is used to denote what are clearly different species of sapient creature. Because in my writing I explore race as a social construct separate from that traditional, archaic definition, I call them different species.
So About Kirby's Species...
Origins
Kirby's species are all born from the same source: a primordial trans-dimensional being, known as Void. Very little is known about this being's true form, abilities, and intentions, but within it is an incredible raw power known as Chaos. Chaos is a blend of the anomalous powers that have been widely dubbed across dimensions as Heart, Dark, Dream, and Soul magic. Unlike elemental magic such as air or earth which are manipulation of physical matter, the chaos magics are based on psychic energy. Heart is the strengthening effect of positive emotions, Dark is the corrupting effect of negative emotions, Dream is the power of subconscious wishes, and Soul is the power of the consciousness and will to live. The way the elements are present in some form in all of nature, these psychic powers are in the minds of all sentient beings.
Being born from Void, Kirby's species are physical incarnations of the powers of Chaos. They are incredibly rare and spread across time and space, so there is no universal name for their species, but I'll refer to them as voidspawn. It's unclear why Void sometimes manifests these physical creatures, but it has something to do with when its presence in a certain dimension collects a great amount of Chaos from said dimension, and a voidspawn is born there. The types of voidspawn that exist are correlated with the 4 Chaos elements; Kirby himself, Meta Knight and Galacta Knight are Heart; Zero and his aptly named hivemind are Dark; Morpho Knight is Soul; and Elfilis might be Dream Matter*, but I will not count them for now.
*Elfilis does seem to be a rare anomalous creature of great Dream magic, but their odd design and inability to control raw Chaos power without having their form torn apart leads me to believe they aren't a voidspawn.
Life Spans
BIRTH
The birth of a voidspawn is similar to that of a star forming. Whatever form Void takes in a certain dimension slowly collects Chaos magic from it, and once it has enough it all coalesces into a single corporeal being, resulting in a massive burst of light and energy as well as a newborn voidspawn. They tend to form near areas of life and activity in the universe and have a habit of crashing onto planets like shooting stars. The voidspawn lacks a clearly defined form for some time, at first appearing just as a vaguely creature-shaped blob of light, but eventually it finds its type's signature shape and a unique color for itself based on its surroundings. An exception to this formation process however are the Soul voidspawn, which never gains a corporeal form - they simply dull from the blinding light into a shadow. A very good example of this stage of life is Void Termina and Astral Birth Void in Kirby Star Allies. Void Termina being an example of a voidspawn just beginning life, and the defeat animation Astral Birth Void of what the birth of one looks like.
LIFE
Voidspawn take nearly a century to grow into a matured state, mimicking the life cycle of many other sapient creatures in the universe. But once mature, they will change very little over the course of their functionally immortal lives. Throughout their youth, voidspawn are still very malleable and adaptable creatures, even their colors tend to fluctuate a bit. They learn quickly, are deceptively strong, and possess a great affinity for all magic but especially the Chaos magic of their type. A clear example of this is Kirby's Copy Ability, which is a result of the ability of all young voidspawn to be incredibly receptive to types of magic. It isn't a completely unique phenomenon to him, but is a trait he has turned into a special skill. But he is still at his strongest when utilizing Heart magic collected from his friends to manifest into weapons. In Void Termina's boss fight, it can be seen that it was very receptive to Kirby's Heart energy, even taking his face in formation for a moment. But once it tapped into the Dark magic powers innate to it, it unlocked the full range of its strength. Although often lauded for their incredible and abnormal abilities by the other inhabitants of the universe, most go through life unaware that they are anomalous higher beings akin to demi-gods. The exception of course being Soul voidspawn who are naturally isolated from other life, and quickly come to this conclusion.
Their Chaos magic being so ingrained in their mind and body tends to impact their general personalities. Heart spawn like Kirby, Meta Knight, and Galacta Knight are very social creatures and crave bonds with others. They're driven strongly by emotions, compassion, and deep-seeded senses of justice. Those traits are seen most clearly in the three of them taking up guardian roles in their homelands. Dark voidspawn like Zero, Dark Matter Swordsman, Gooey, and Void Termina also thrive off of emotional bonds, but their fixation on negative emotions can make them macabre and brooding. Dark voidspawn are not inherently evil, this is seen most clearly in Gooey, but as well in Dark Matter's envious pining for connection that brought it to Dreamland in the first place. Soul voidspawn are an exception to a lot of rules as they exist in a non-corporeal state to most creatures in the universe and are actually immortal. Despite this they still manage to have an affinity for sentient life and take interest in studying the lives of the living and guiding their souls to the afterlife. This is seen in Morpho Knight who is dubbed a Grim Reaper of sorts in-universe but is far from a malevolent demon. I'm not considering Elfilis as a voidspawn, but based on their abilities with their innate Dream magic, it could be deduced that Dream voidspawn possess incredibly strong and complex psychic powers that can create worlds within their minds.
All voidspawn possess a sort of psychic influence on other beings that comes naturally from being made of psychic magic. For most this is very slight and manifests as just seeming to be unnaturally charismatic (even in place of real social skills). Combined with the fact that they are usually considered beautiful for their unique and colorful appearances, many can easily find themselves being popular in some way among those they live with. The psychic influence they have on others grows stronger with age, and when focused on and honed this ability can become similar to possession. Very similarly to how Kirby took the natural adaptability of voidspawn and turned it into his Copy Ability, Zero's ability to possess others is actually an evolution of this psychic influence that has been powered up by experience and age. And the Friend Hearts of Kirby Star Allies are the results of a burst of raw Heart magic that Kirby collected and used to recruit his friends.
MATURITY AND DEATH
Once a voidspawn reaches maturity, the signature staples of its type are present, and their bodies fail to change much more for the vast majority or sometimes the rest of their lives. For the corporeal ones who would grow up believing themselves to simply be just a rare species, late into this adulthood would be when they realize they are special given their lack of aging. Whether that realization evolves into a depression or a god complex is wholly dependent on the individual. For Zero this fueled an arc that led to him becoming such a powerful Dark voidspawn that his name and influence became synonymous with the idea of Dark magic itself - his kind being labeled Dark Matter. And for Galacta Knight it contributed to a feeling of isolation and grandeur that caused him to snap under the pressure and start a campaign of destruction known as the Galactic Crisis.
Those two are the clearest examples of incredibly old voidspawn processing their demi-god-like status, and in them are also examples of the last phase of life a voidspawn can possibly go through - a Supernova. This occurs when a voidspawn is consumed by incredible amounts of Chaos magic, either internally or from an external force, and undergoes a transformation akin to being reborn. With Zero, after his defeat in Kirby's Dream Land 3, he refused to die and was so consumed by his own despair and hatred that he was reborn as Zero2. Portrayed vaguely by the events of Super Kirby Clash, Galacta was hunted down by a team of great warriors to stop the Galactic Crisis and was nearly defeated, but a surge of emotions caused him to be reborn in his Aeon Hero Light or Dark form (dependent on whether he harnessed Heart or Dark magic).
There is a similar phenomenon that occurs with normal beings, where a strong refusal to die or confusion upon death results in a Soul Form manifesting, but while these are hollowed, non-corporeal remnants of a person, the Supernova form is a rebirth and reinvigoration of a voidspawn's body. It is possible for a voidspawn to die peacefully before experiencing this phase, but due to their emotional nature it may happen more often than not. In this form, death is nigh impossible - taking either a herculean amount of Chaos power to neutralize them, or waiting for the form to neutralize itself. The former occurred with the Zero's defeat using the Ripple Star Crystal and the Heart power of an entire galaxy, and the latter occurred when Galacta Knight was sealed in his Aeon Hero form where Dark Magic and an eternity of being sealed weakened him back into his former state.
With the defeat of voidspawn in this hyper-powerful form, their death is as dramatic as their birth, as they go out in a blinding flash of light and energy. During many of Galacta Knight's defeat his body is between trying to Supernova again and give out like this, which is what causes his dramatic escapes.
Individuals
HEART MATTER
GALACTA KNIGHT
Galacta Knight is the 3rd oldest voidspawn by birth and physical maturity. He was over 500 years old upon being sealed, and has been kept in stasis outside of time and space the course of countless eons in-universe. He was born and sealed before all younger voidspawn, but has a long-standing relationship with Morpho Knight.
Galacta Knight was born around the golden age of the Halcandran Ancients, and played a large part in the history of said time. He fell to the star and grew up among the peasantry of the planet, but eventually found his place as the reigning general of the empire's military forces through his exceptional strength as a knight. The incredible power innate to voidspawn helped him carve his career as the Greatest Warrior in the Galaxy which earned him a massive ego and slight god-complex. Despite that, the compassionate nature of Heart voidspawn meant that once at the top he'd rather rule through diplomacy than bloodshed, and he was revered for his might and charm by the people of the star.
As he grew old enough to tell that he was something more than those around him he started losing himself in his role as Greatest Warrior in the Galaxy and general of the ancient Halcandran empire. Eventually the pressure caused him to snap, and in a violent, misguided show of loyalty and protectiveness of his home, he took it upon himself to single-handedly slaughter any star that threatened to rise against his own. The backlash over was seen as betrayal in his eyes and fully shattered his connection to those around him. In retaliation he became the Galacta Knight who would be feared in fables and myths for eons to come.
*The specifics of what group or enemy Halcandra was in cold war with at the time havent been fully realized by me yet ^_^
META KNIGHT
Meta Knight is the 3rd youngest voidspawn by birth and 4th youngest by physical maturity. In the current canon he is around 250 years old, he was born far after Galacta's sealing and after Zero had become a deity of Dark magic. However he was lucky enough to find Kirby and Gooey, and fought Galacta once.
Meta Knight was not born incidentally like most other voidspawn, rather like Void Termina, he was deliberately summoned by someone wishing to use his species' power. In what inconclusive texts there are on Void and Void Termina, it can be understood how to purposefully bring about the birth of a voidspawn. A Nightmare Wizard had tried to create Meta Knight as a Dark voidspawn for their own selfish conquests, but created him as a Heart one instead. Upset with these results but wishing to keep him around just in case, the Nightmare Wizard neglected and abused Meta while still trying and failing to groom him into a tool for destruction. Meta Knight was deeply traumatized by this treatment but never lost his innate sense of wonder and compassion, and longed to become a knight like in the many fables he read. The Nightmare Wizard, being a collector of ancient artifacts, held the legendary Galaxia - a powerful Ancient sword imbued with Heart magic. Reaching out to the poor creature, the spirit of the sword encouraged Meta to become that pillar of light he was destined to be, and he slew his captor and fled to live his dreams.
Meta Knight traveled many planets for a long time struggling with his sense of self and a lack of social skills due to isolation, but wherever he went he championed chivalry and justice with his trusted blade as his mentor. His travels eventually brought him to Popstar where finally finding another of his kind - Kirby - led him to settling down. However, his hardened and strict nature conflicted with that of the star and Kirby himself, and there were times when he almost became that force of destruction he was groomed to be as a child. But his heart showed through, and he now lives peacefully with Kirby and many other friends he has made on Popstar.
KIRBY
Kirby is the 2nd youngest voidspawn by birth, and 3rd youngest by physical maturity. In current canon he is about 30 years old, and he was born far after Galacta's sealing and after Zero became a deity of Dark magic. However he was lucky enough to find Meta Knight and Gooey, and has defeated Zero twice, as well as facing the elusive Morpho Knight more than once.
Kirby fell to the planet of Popstar where he was quickly taken in by the generous inhabitants of Dreamland. His career as a hero kickstarted with his fateful battle against King Dedede after he attempted to unfairly tax the people of the land. Ever since then, Kirby has been the guardian of Dreamland, Popstar, and the whole galaxy - defending it from a myriad of incredible threats. He is still very young but has a big heart and has grown to be a merciful warrior, with many of his close friends being former enemies. Kirby has also developed a special skill known as his Copy Ability, where he can inhale enemies and copy their magic for himself. This is an extension of voidspawns' natural affinity for magic, and while most will pick a certain magical based skill and hone it to a razor's edge, Kirby has taken a jack-of-all trades approach.
This approach is indicative of his nature as a warrior and as a person - he is flexible and always learning new skills to overcome any range of challenges, and this leads to him exploring and understanding a very wide range of styles and people. He's seen as a bit of a celebrity on Popstar, as before his arrival it had been a rather backwater place, but now they hold a planetary treasure among their ranks. Adventure after adventure his heroic name has slowly spread across the cosmos... for better or for worse. But the fame never gets to his head, all he wishes for are peaceful days of napping and snacking for himself and all his friends.
DARK MATTER
VOID TERMINA
*This will be written along side the Heroes of Yore being fleshed out
...
ZERO
Zero is the 4th oldest voidspawn by birth and the 2nd oldest by physical maturity. By the time he was defeated by the hands of Kirby he was well over thousands of years old, he was born long after Galacta’s sealing and was a deity of Dark Magic long before any younger voidspawn. He has faced Kirby twice and created the race of Dark Matter and Gooey.
Zero was born near the Jambastion countless eons ago after they had already fallen into corruption. He was taken in by them, but they were unaware of his nature as a Dark voidspawn due to their misconceptions about what their God really was. The Jamba were known for adopting stray children, but did not treat them as equals within the religious hierarchy, but Zero’s natural proficiency for Dark magic earned him high regard. At some point in studying Void Termina and Dark magic, he was able to come to the conclusion that he was the deity that his religion claimed to worship. He also realized how incompetent they were and felt slighted by their mistreatment of him, so he left on his own to perfect his craft and become a God of Dark magic. He promised to come back one day, saving his mentors for last as they preached their God would do.
Through incredibly powerful magic he created a race that would be dubbed the Dark Matter, beings made entirely of magic that sought out those who possess strong negative emotions and would send them into destructive spirals. Following the misguided teachings of the Jamba he believed his goal was to destroy the universe to cleanse it of sin, and he believed that internally it was important to cleanse himself of emotions as well - as to not fall prey to the same trappings as his enemies. This led to him becoming an incredibly repressed individual and losing his sense of personhood, though deep in his soul his heart still yearned for connection. As his swarm and power grew his influence was able to spread across light years of space, using the Dark Matter to topple whole dynasties and empires with their own corrupt hearts. The universe learned to fear him as the God of Dark Magic and Destruction he had always believed himself to be. It eventually took the incredible strength of an especially powerful voidspawn and the energy of countless hearts to end his reign.
GOOEY AND DARK MATTER
The Dark matter species are a peculiarity as they, like normal voidspawn, are creatures made out of high concentrations of Chaos magic, but they lack a real form or consciousness of their own. They are only emissaries of Zero’s will, but under certain circumstances they can develop their own being.
Dark Matter Swordsman and Gooey were once part of Zero’s swarm, but broke free and became individuals during the events of Kirby’s DreamLand 2. Gooey is the youngest voidspawn by birth and second youngest by physical maturity. In current canon Gooey is about 25 years old, and is lucky enough to know Kirby and Meta Knight, as well as once having been under the control of Zero.
The first Dark Matter drone that came to DreamLand was very far and separated from Zero, but still carried out his will and sought to possess and corrupt King Dedede. Through the drone, Zero saw the lives of the Popstarians so far removed from the strife he was born in and perpetuated, and latent feelings of envy combined with the drone’s separation from him caused it to develop its own independent mind - much like an intrusive thought spirling into its own chain of rumination. In its battle against Kirby it was further influenced by his Heart energy, and the drone fully broke from its master’s control and tried to fight him on its own terms with an identity it created. But Kirby broke through its facade and killed it. The piece of the Dark Matter that still wished to live on was empowered by the energy of Kirby and the Rainbow Sword, and broke off to become Gooey.*
Gooey is very young and the process of becoming his own being has left his mind fuzzy, but he uses his second chance at life and independence to its fullest. He became friends with Kirby who was aware of his connection to Dark Matter but accepted him either way, and between the events of Dream Land 2 and Dream Land 3, played together in the Rainbow Islands. When Zero came to invade Popstar manually he joined Kirby and his friends to stop him even while fully aware of who Zero was and how strong he was. The combined strength of Gooey and Kirby, as well as the hopes of everyone on Popstar, were able to defeat Zero, and Gooey would be free of his influence for the rest of his life. Gooey now lives in the Rainbow Islands with Kirby’s old animal friend buddies and spends his days relaxing and playing among them.
*Not 100% on this course but I think it's solid narratively. There is also the idea that Gooey was a twin of DMS who came to invade as well but was quickly overpowered by heart energy, but that feels more complicated.
SOUL MATTER
MORPHO KNIGHT
Morpho Knight (or just Morpho) is the oldest voidspawn in canon*, with its creation predating all recorded history of the universe, including the origins of Void Termina and Galacta Knight. It has seen the lives and deaths of all other voidspawn who have come after it. It has a long-standing relationship with Galacta Knight, and has made a true appearance to Kirby a few times.
As a soul voidspawn, Morpho was born from the power of soul magic, which had always been in abundance before other kinds born from more complex emotions. Thus, Morpho is older than all of it's known kin, and most of civilization. Nothing told Morpho to be a reaper when it was younger, but watching mortals from its seperate plane of existence and observing its own powers to manipulate their souls after death, it figured that path would be the best way to help and interact with other creatures. It took a great interest in the lives of warriors - those who used violence and death either to further their own selfish goals, or attempt to build a better world - and the inherent contradictions that comes with living to kill others. The task of judging the hearts of these people across space and time became its eternal mission.
It's unknown how many voidspawn lived before Galacta Knight, but Morpho always payed special attention to the lives of its kin. And heart voidspawn in particular, as their ability to turn emotions into physical strength inclinded them towards being warriors. Morpho followed Galacta Knight throughout his life, as he could see from a young age that his personality would lead him towards ruin. Ever since his sealing, Morpho has waited patiently for the chance to cast heavy judgement on his soul. When the chance came in Kirby's confrontation with Galacta Knight, Morpho made the decision to make a special appearance to the young warrior and make an example out of his senior, using Galacta Knight's soul to become Morpho Knight - a hyper-dimensional manifestation of its true form. By the time of confronting Kirby with another long-awaited soul retrieval in Forgo, Morpho's appearances became more amicable, as seen by its gift of a facsimile of its powers to Kirby.
*I specify "in canon" because purely in my headcanon I have other soul voidspawn OCs, who's own lifespans mess with this statement. I'm thinking of how to involve them in this section to both make them concretely part of this list but distinct from my HC on canon characters
| Age Based on Birth | Age Based on Physical Maturity |
|---|---|
|
|
The Kirby Magic System...
| Air |
|
|---|---|
| Earth |
|
| Plasma |
|
| Water |
|
| Dark |
|
|---|---|
| Dream |
|
| Heart |
|
| Soul |
|
Elemental Magic
Elemental Magics are that which manipulate the material world much like a traditional element system.
AIR
EARTH
PLASMA
WATER
Chaos Magic
Chaos Magics are that which manipulate psychic energy, usually with the end goal of manifesting it physically somehow.
When this psychic energy is turned into something material, like a crystal or weapon, it is called Chaos Matter. Voidpspawn are physical incarnations of Astral Void, but are made up of lots of stuff like meat and water and nerves, so they're not exactly Chaos Matter, but Zero's drones were thought of as physical incarnations of raw Dark Magic, hence why the entire race is dubbed Dark Matter.
HEART
In Ancient Halcandran mythology it was said that mastering Heart Magic comes from unlocking the light side of the heart to bring love and connection to others. Heart Magic is based in the empowering effects of emotions and memories, often taking the form of enchantments and boosts to one's physical and mental strength. In strong enough forms it can give even the weakest person the strength and skill to overcome any challenge.
Heart and Dark Magic have a reciprocal relationship. While Heart Magic can give a person incredible strength, if they lose control of those emotions, Dark Magic can twist it into something sinister. And while Dark Magic can be used to corrupt a person's heart, the power of Heart Magic can neutralize it by empowering emotions that can fight that darkness.
Heart Magic is unsurprisingly abundant in the series being that it's Kirby's defining Chaos Magic. It's even the root of his most basic move - the Copy Ability. When Kirby inhales an enemy, he is not absorbing their body, but the magic from them or an object as well as some of their memories of empowerment and skill using said magic. It's a mix of both a natural voidspawn aptitude towards all forms of magic, and that of his own type, which often makes copy abilities a form of duel magic between an Elemental and Heart Magic. For the duration of holding a copy ability, Kirby can perform spells or attacks with the exact same ability of that whom he copied, and even tends to borrow a few of their personality traits and quirks, but it's all lost the second the strength of the magic is knocked out of him by a strong blow.
Kirby's biggest weakness is that these great powers are not his own, and can easily be taken, leaving him defenseless, but he is naturally very strong and durable on his own. Heart Magic allows him to push forwards in times of strife where many others - especially at his age - would crumble physically or mentally. And when that isn't enough, he can bend Heart Magic even further to his will with the help of others as seen in many of his final weapons, like the Rainbow Sword, Love-Love Stick, and Star-Allies Sparkler. The strength of these comes specifically from the direct Heart Magic of others in their gratitudes, hopes, and happiness collected into them by Kirby in those adventures, which were strong against the toxicity of Dark Magic's of apathy, rage, and despair.
The Ripple Star Crystal and Heart Spears were similarly created in the past by ancient mages, but with far more effort and were wielded with nowhere near the proficiency Kirby can with his own. The Ripple Star Crystal was created to archive the fairies' history and use their own positive memories as protection in times of need, but it hadn't been used for that purpose in so long, they didn't have time to prepare it when Zero2 attacked in Kirby 64. The Heart Spears similarly have been laying dormant for years, but were used offensively in the past as is documented in the tale of the Four Heroes. Even they struggled to wield them for their mission, all except Galacta Knight who found himself surprisingly proficient with them.
Unlike those artifacts that are mostly raw magic refined into a tool, the legendary sword Galaxia was an object made to be endowed with Heart Magic through a ruby in it's hilt. The Galaxia gives its wielder incredible courage, strength, and proficiency with the blade itself and plasma magic imbued in it, in a way giving the effects of a copy ability to whomever holds it. This great strength was to be curbed by the blade itself, which was to be given magic strong enough to resist those who weren't worthy or pure enough in conviction, but this developed into a personality and soul within it. That of a harshly judgmental but kind and maternal figure who would reject nearly everyone whom attempted to wield the blade for eons, until a young Meta endeared himself to her.
Galaxia's judgment was something both passed on first wielding her blade, and continuously throughout the wielder's life, even Meta Knight has come close to losing his right to her blade a few times. In Amazing Mirror, Kirby and Shadow Kirby were allowed to wield Galaxia's Blade in the final confrontation due to the spirit's trust in and fondness of them, but she considers both of them far too young (and Shadow too cowardly) to be her chosen wielders.
The most defining use of Heart Magic throughout the series is for combating and neutralizing Dark Magic, but heart is not the definitive trump card of Dark Magic. The two magics have a reciprocal relationship, as they are both born from the same source - emotions - but harness them in different ways. Heart is just the empowering and constructive effect, and Dark the degrading and self-destructive, with both having applications positive and negative. Heart Magic can be abused as easily as one's heart can be misled, like in the example of Galacta Knight, who's campaign of destruction was brought about by his innate Heart Magic strengthening him in an incredibly emotional state, but his sealing came from the Jamba of yore twisting those emotions into a self-sealing crystal. Unfortunately, due to years of misuse and abuse by the later Jamba and Dark Matter, the history of these applications is obscured.
DREAM
In Ancient Halcandran mythology it was said that mastering Dream Magic comes form unlocking the power of wishes to bring them to life. Dream Magic is based in the ability to turn sub-conscious desires into reality, often taking the form of wish-granting and meditation. In strong enough forms it can be used to open portals into different worlds based on the will of it's wielder.
Dream Magic has appeared in the Kirby series in many ways, but its first major source was in the Fountain of Dreams introduced in Kirby's Adventure and Milky Way Wishes. The Fountain of Dreams is known by Dreamlanders as a magical spring that supplies denizens of the country and planet with good dreams and restful sleep, but it's also shown to have wish-granting properties - it's primary function as a Dream Magic artifact. There are those across Popstar who also know of this ability and often make pilgrimages to it to ask for fortune, but the more famous ability is due to the ritual prayers of those who live in Rainbow Resort and maintain the spring.
The Dream Spring on Popstar is not unique, and is one of many across the galaxy and beyond. Their origins can be traced back to the ancients whom first invented the technology and spread them throughout their empire before others began picking up on it. This, along with the abundance of Dream Magic in their other artifacts such as Novas and Starcutters has made Dream Magic the most widely understood and practiced Chaos Magic in the universe. Which has brought its positive applications to places as remote as Popstar, but as well has opened it up to exploitation.
In Kirby's Adventure the Nightmare Wizard who threatened Dreamland was one of a clan of mages who use Dream Magic for destructive means, whether it's using their knowledge of it to steal and withhold it's abilities from those who relied upon it, or actively using the wish-granting powers to bring about chaos. One of Dream Magics biggest safety guards and weaknesses, is that its attachment to subconscious desires makes wishes non-literal and usually wisher-directed, as wishes directed externally usually are born from some internal root. For example wishing to "control Popstar" as Marx did in Milky Way Wishes simply reflected on a childish inner desire to feel powerful - still dire but not as immediately so as a literal reading. Another example of non-literal wishes being granted is in Meta Knightmare Ultra when Meta Knight wishes to fight "The Greatest Warrior In the Galaxy", a phrase that came to his tongue because of the subconscious desire to face the ultimate symbol of a great knight in his heart, even if by word he meant the literal immediate area. It takes a lot of meditation to understand ones internal desires and bend them to align with ones words.
Meditation, or a pure heart - as is the case of Kirby who has been using Dream Magic even before the Fountain of Dreams was introduced in the Warp Stars. Besides wishes that are based on wild imagination or scope, children tend to be good at wishing, as their desires aren't as abstracted by years of learned responsibilities, expectations, and other baggage. Warpstars are born out of Kirby's simple wish to get from place to place to continue his adventure as granted to him by the Sparkling Stars in Dream Land 1, and since have become natural to him due to voidspawn aptitude for Chaos Magic. The ones which he rides freely through space were granted to him by the Dream Spring of Popstar, and the combined might of it and those of the neighboring planets in Milky Way Wishes brought together the Star Chariot.
Using Dream Magic for transportation is one of its oldest uses alongside basic wish-granting. The power of space-time manipulation is always latent to Dream Magic, as dreams themselves are small, fragile worlds formed from that power of subconscious desires as one sleeps. Elfilis's people were natural psychics with the ability to use this power to their advantage, from the commonly replicated teleportation abilities of Elfilis, to the extraordinary sprawling dream-dimension of Forgo Dreams.
In ancient creations, this property of space-time manipulation was refined and combined with a computer's edge to create inter-dimensional roads that offered people access to Another Dimension. Starcutters were the main mode of traversing this, and used an advanced AI as the wish-granting proxy between a user and the raw magic in its Energy Spheres in order to chart consistent courses. When needed this also allowed for fluidity in commands. Magolor never directly told the ship to visit Popstar, but it understood that his wish to escape Halcandra was to go somewhere nearly opposite of it.
Dream Magic has contributed much to the magical landscape of the Kirby universe, but the artifacts that made this possible are often not treated with care. If not hoarded by those amassing magic for their own gain, creations such as Starcutters and Novas are abused or left in disrepair. The Galactic Nova of Milky Way Wishes' fame was designed by the ancients as a monumental database made with Dream Magic, only built to grant large wishes a few times in it's lifetime. The desperation or greed of those who sought its legend took it apart and put it back together until wishes became it's primary purpose, somewhat continued as seen in its destruction and resurrection by Kirby and Meta Knight. And the Lor Starcutter Magolor owns is the last of its kind due to being a commercial vessel left to rot. It's military models were destroyed long ago in wars, making it ironic it almost met that same fate by Magolor's abuses his confrontation with Kirby.
DARK
In Ancient Halcandran mythology it was said that mastering Dark Matter comes from unlocking the dark side of the heart to protect others from the trappings of greed and wrath. Dark Magic is based in corrupting and self-destructive powers of negative emotions and memories, often taking the form of curses, seals, and other magical deterrents. In strong enough forms it can even be used to mutate and controls the minds of others.
Dark Magic - in the series and universe of Kirby - are defined almost entirely by one entity and one entity alone, that being Zero and his hivemind. Beyond training his own innate abilities to corrupt and control the minds of others, he then learned how to create a form of pseudo-life from Dark Magic which would come to be known as The Dark Matter. These creatures were created in a way similar to how Kirby could manifest weapons out of Heart Matter, but they were combined with his own flesh and blood in order to hold his will and act on his behalf over great distances, diffusing his powers over vast swaths of space to spread and grow more powerful.
Zero's ideology was born from that of the Jamba, whom believed all life was inherently self-destructive and evil, and that only the Jamba in their wisdom of the powers of Dark Magic would be saved from the wrath of an omnicidal Dark God - which Zero believed himself to be. Unlike the hulking form of Void Termina born from Hyness' vision of this god, Zero saw himself as the presence of Dark Magic incarnate who would spread over the universe like a plague, corrupting people into self-destruction. On Popstar he attempted this by possessing King Dedede, whom had the authority to subjugate others, the remoteness from other powers to not be found out, and the weakened mental state from his recent defeats to be susceptible to Dark Matter's influence. In subsequent attempts however, this subtlety fell to the wayside.
Despite his incredible power, Zero was still defeated thrice over by Kirby due to his inherited flawed understanding of Dark and Heart Magic. Life was more complex than Bad Trumping Good, and no matter how powerful Dark Matter could be, proficient application of Heart Matter could unravel it, such as Kirby only needing to gather the gratitude, companionship, and hope of others to combat the apathy, despair, or rage Zero attempted to spread.
The flaw of the Jamba themselves however, was not just this misunderstanding, but a misunderstanding of the applications of Dark Magic itself. Unlike Zero, whom naturally understood Dark Magic, the Jamba as wizards have taught themselves to use the magic as if it is all powerful and applicable, and not a niche in corruption. They believe that the wild rage that comes from Dark Magic is strength, or that the obsession is knowledge, when really these effects are the user being eaten from the inside by Dark Magic. This ignorance and misunderstanding has been their gradual downfall for aeons, and of many others who learn the incomplete story of Dark Magic from chance encounters with Zero's presence of ancient texts.
*Once I Have Mirror World Lore This Can Be Expanded
- Mirror World copies are from that idea of self-destructive traits, not just "bad/evil" ones
- Shakirby is Kirby's apprehensions, Dameta is "evil" because he comes from Post-Revenge's complex of being such, Dark Dedede is a lot like possessed Dedede - wrathful but otherwise apathetic
- The Mirror World just has to cope with those three now but it's not an "evil dimension"
SOUL
In Ancient Halcandran mythology is was said that mastering Soul Matter comes from unlocking the power of the Soul in order to give others peace in death. Soul Magic is based in the strong will to live that resides in all living beings, often taking the form of ghosts and aids for their travel to the afterlife. In strong enough forms, the souls of the departed can manifest into formidable and monstrous forms.
Soul is both an incredibly pervasive yet incredibly rare Chaos Magic. While it is present within every sentient thing at all times, the practice of it as a school of wizardry is incredibly rare and often leads to disaster. Soul Magic is what gives sentient beings a sense of personality and self-preservation and is interlinked to all other forms of Chaos Magic within a being. Beings have a singular "soul" that is made up of a beings memories, wishes, and values separate from just the neurons in their brain, and this leaves the body upon death. In a sense, while the flesh and bone of the body is a self made up of Elemental Matter, the Soul is the self made up of Chaos Matter.
However a body isn't needed to form a Soul, as seen in soul voidspawn themselves, or the soul found within the Galaxia which developed purely out of Chaos Magic. The Soul isn't something endowed upon a being at the threshold of death and life, but that is cultivated through the collection of Chaos Magic within.
Notable occurrences of Soul Magic are the "Soul Bosses" in the Kirby series, which are when the Souls of said bosses are incredibly insistent on not dying, and are overcome by their emotions. A Soul Form is not the same as a normal Soul which would appear just as someone's ghost or a specter, but are instead heightened states where the Soul Magic and urge to keep living overtake all of a beings other goals and senses, and they become an incredibly powerful, but very inauthentic husk of themselves. Ghosts and Soul Forms cannot normally appear on the normal plane of existence, but have to be seen either in heightened dimensions like in dreams, or through a purposeful use of Soul Magic, which ghosts and Soul Forms rarely have the means to use themselves.
Very few mortals exist with the ability to practice Soul Magic how other Chaos Magics are, mainly due to the stark separation of the mortal world and that which souls enter, and the efforts of soul voidspawn such as Morpho, who work to make sure they stay separated. Morpho, as a Reaper of Warriors, uses it's understanding of Soul Magic to make sure that those who die in battle don't linger around the mortal realm causing problems, as even if they cannot be seen, the presence of a Soul and its Chaos Magic can cause disturbances felt by the living. It also takes it upon itself sometimes to decide when even if a being hasn't died yet, that it may need to be forced from the moral realm, such is the case of Galacta Knight and Forgo.
Despite the efforts of soulspawn, a few have learned some powers of Soul Magic. Mages of ancient Halcandra and some today find ways to temporarily reunite wandering spirits with the living, and have used their knowledge of the life after death to be spiritual leaders. But of course many seek out Soul Magic in an attempt to control theirs and others mortality, such as Necrodeus* - an ancient lich who uses the Souls of others to form his ranks.
*No real Necrodeus lore but he's not thaaat important cause mainline game bias
Histories
ELEMENTAL
- Before life there was ofc just the material universe, cold and dead, its believed that elementals mightve been the first living beings
- Some unknown time ago the Halcandrans began mastering the ability to manipulate the physical world around them with their minds
- There are some species that are born able to manipulate this as part of their physiology, but the Halcandrans began standardizing it into a magic system
- Along with the Chaos Magics, this became part of the myth of the Sons of the Sun and Moon, with the royal dynasty and related groups teaching themselves mastery of these and keeping it from the laypeople
- It was very useful for terraforming and for use in combat which is what gave the Ancient Halcandran empire such an incredible edge, on top of the other Chaos Magic they knew
- Due to its material nature and lack of mysticism, even in ancient times this was not a rare magic to learn, and in their golden age it was less gatekept
- After the fall of the empire its texts on this kind of magic were even more widespread, nowadays almost anyone can learn this stuff if theyre patient enough or are an elemental species
*going to be reorganized ^_^
SOUL MATTER
DREAM MATTER
DARK MATTER
HEART MATTER
Kirby Cosmology...
The Ancients and their Mythologies...
*Being heavily rewritten ^_^