One surprisingly common take that honestly annoys me more than people calling Dedede a villain is when people call him an "anti-hero". Because, simply put,
he's not an anti-hero. He's just A Hero.
Anti-hero seems to be another term that completely lost any real meaning, so I decided to make a post debunking this notion and more thoroughly discuss what anti-hero actually is.
So let's start simple, what type of characters exactly qualifies as an anti-hero? Well, usually it's a protagonist who lacks conventional heroic qualities, such as idealism, courage, and morality.
In videogames I think the easiest example of an actual anti-hero is... Wario.
He's not a villain for many years at this point and he does good things sometimes, but the difference is WHY he's doing them. He does them not out of goodness of his heart, but because it usually aligns with his primary goals, which are more often than not are completely self-serving.
He might save people, he might save the world, but only if it benefits him, if it helps him get more rich. He has some standards, but ultimately, when he does the right thing only when it's beneficial to him (with extremely rare exceptions, such as his sentimental attachment to his pet hen).
Dedede doesn't fall under same criterias.
He, as a hero, a protagonist of certain games, has no selfish underlying reasons for why he's doing a good thing.
In Kirby's Adventure he was simply protecting Dream Land from the outside threat, he didn't want any recognition for his actions, he simply was doing what was right. Kirby didn't even want to listen to what he had to say, but it didn't make Dedede stop what he was doing simply because he didn't get the praise for his heroics.
In Kirby 64 his motivation for going on the Crystal Shards hunt was purely because he was worried for safety of the kids. He had no other reason to join other than that.
In Return to Dream Land he was the first one to notice crushing down Lor Starcutter and offered Magolor his help, even though he didn't offer anything in return. He was just helping out a stranger, because he thought it was right thing to do.
In Triple Deluxe he was involved into whole Sectonia incident essentially against his will, and yet, not expecting ANY sort of recognition he was basically the main reason why Kirby succeeded at saving the day.
And finally, Star Allies cements his motivation in words. He wants to bring peace to Dream Land, simply put. Nothing more or less. English localization adds bit of him "wanting to clean up his reputation" which might seem a bit self-serving, but that was nonexistent in Japanese original.
So if he's such a good person, why people use this terminology in Dedede's context.
I think main issue here is him being an "antagonist" in certain spin-offs, where he challenges Kirby.
But I must reiterate here, being an antagonist has nothing to do with Dedede's moral compass. Villain (or anti-hero) =/= antagonist, antagonist is simply someone who opposes the protagonist.
Dedede is Kirby's rival, so whenever they compete he fills the role of antagonist by default. It doesn't say anything about his beliefs and principals as a hero.
Kirby and Dedede's relationship is more comparable to Sonic and Knuckles' than Mario and Bowser's.
They are friendly rivals, they butt heads sometimes, but at the end of the day, they are good friends. And both are definitely heroic, of course.
Dedede is not an anti-hero. He's a HERO and I will settle on nothing else, he should get the recognition he deserves.
titsay
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